A new advanced service that will see pharmacists giving discharge medicines reviews (DMRs) to patients recently released from a care setting is being introduced in Wales from next month, the Welsh government has confirmed. Changes to the MUR service have also been announced and will see specific patient groups targeted from December.

The discharge medicines reviews will support patients following discharge from care settings such as hospitals.

The service has been designed to help improve the transfer of medicines information between secondary and primary care and it is hoped that it will improve adherence, the Welsh government said.

"The active engagement of community pharmacists in this process should ensure patients receive the medicines intended and improve both patient safety and health outcomes," said Roger Walker, the Welsh government's chief pharmaceutical officer.

The MUR target groups being introduced include patients on antihypertensive medication, patients taking medicines for respiratory disease, and patients taking high-risk medicines.  

The groups were designed to ensure the service was "a high-quality, value-for-money service of benefit to patients", said Professor Walker.

To secure funding from the Welsh government, the discharge review service will be "subject to demonstration of significant patient benefit", a government spokesperson added.

Details of the new services and revised clinical governance arrangements have been sent to contractors in Wales this week.

This follows the announcement last month that a service for patients who have been discharged from hospital was being considered. Community Pharmacy Wales revealed at the time that the £3.6 million cost of the service would come out of the £11m the Welsh Assembly gained from category M clawbacks last year.

The new services in Wales closelsy resemble those introduced in England this month: England's targetted MURs cover patients with respiratory disease, patients taking high risk medicines and patients recently dicharged from hospital; and patients taking hypertensives are one of the four target groups of the new medicines service (NMS).