Identify a suitable candidate. This should be a patient who has been coming to your pharmacy for their prescriptions for at least the previous three months. It’s worth checking whether your PCT is trying to target certain patient groups, for example, those with osteoporosis.

Ask the patient to bring all their medication, including any OTCs and herbal/homeopathic medicines and supplements, to the consultation. Make sure you have the correct paperwork to hand, including – if you want – a copy of their PMR from your dispensary computer, and any information you think you or they may find useful (for example, one of C+D’s MUR tips on a particular condition or drug class to jog your memory).

Ensure your dispensary and counter staff know where you are and what you are doing. This will help to ensure they don’t interrupt you unless it’s really urgent!

Seat the patient in your consultation area in the seat furthest away from the door so your escape route is unhindered, with their medication on the table. Work through each drug in turn, documenting how and when it is taken, what the patient thinks each is for, adherence to the prescribed regimen, and any side effects. Identify any issues, such as medicines that are no longer being taken, uneven quantities, or any other problems being experienced by the patient.

Mark your recommendations on the form, ensuring the patient is happy with them and understands why you are asking their GP to change any aspect of their medicines. Provide any supporting material you feel necessary, for example, a leaflet outlining inhaler technique.

REMEMBER, you are not providing a full clinical review of the patient’s medication. The aim of an MUR is to help patients better understand their medicines, thereby improving compliance and reducing wastage, and identify any problems such as side effects or interactions.

Give the patient a copy of the form. Yes, all of it. If you are using an electronic MUR form, print off a copy for the patient.

If there are action points for the GP, send the “overview” section of the form to the practice within seven days of the MUR. Bear in mind that the GP can request a copy of the “consultation record” page at a later date. If you are using an electronic form, you can print off a copy to send or save the relevant information to a data stick or disc.

If there are no action points for the GP, all you need to do is notify the patient’s GP that you have conducted an MUR within one month. Again, the GP can request a copy of the MUR form if he or she wishes.

Make sure you retain a copy of the form in the pharmacy for at least two years.

Don’t forget to claim payment for the MURs you have provided. This is done by filling in the appropriate section on the FP34(C) form submitted to the Prescription Pricing Division at the end of each month. At the moment, you can claim a £27 fee per MUR provided up to a maximum of 400 or 200 MURs depending on when you registered.

PSNC website directions permit a pharmacy to provide 400 MURs during the year April 2007 to March 2008, provided the arrangements to provide MURs have been made before 1 October 2007 (this means that the pharmacy must declare to the PCT that it has an acceptable location for performing MURs, and submit copies of the pharmacists MUR certificates). The limit is 200 if the arrangements are made on or after 1 October 2007

The next MUR…

… should be plain sailing. Well done, you’re up and running with your MUR service!

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