Make PILs & SPCs more useful and accessible
by ian1
on February 12, 2010 at 09:36AM
PILs & SPCs more useful
1) If a new web site is to be produced, use more colour, icons, etc, to make it more user friendly.
2) Learn from the BMA Medicine's Guide eg "What to do if you miss a dose"
3) Include a brief description of how the drug works; this will aid patient compliance, as many people are less than fully convinced they need the drug.
4) Ensuring that the list is complete and any drug than can be bought or prescribed is covered.
5) A photo of the tablet would be useful too.
Accessibility
1) The ability to print off in different size fonts would be useful.
Why the contribution is important
Reliabiity & trustworthiness are essential in a venture like this
Current tags
Posted by
eatrice
February 12, 2010 at 03:51PM
Sounds like a great idea in terms of increasing patient access to information. However, feedback from pharmacy customers suggests that many dont read patient leaflets, and many of those who do often have difficulties with some of the terms used. Whilst these terms are necessary in order to convey concise information to those that need it (health care pforessionals themselves often partly relying on the PIL), but might it be a good idea to include on the web a more user-friendly version that more consumers could understand?
Posted by
Davthebad
February 15, 2010 at 10:47AM
I agree, I think this is a good idea as knowledge is power. I also think that it should go further by posting easy read leaflets in pictorial form.
As a learning disability Nurse accessible information is important to aid participation, gain informed consent and generally empower the person with the learning disability to excercise some control in thier lives.
Easy read leaflets have already been developed for some medications, it would be great to have a '1 stop shop'for them instead of having to trawl the web.
As a learning disability Nurse accessible information is important to aid participation, gain informed consent and generally empower the person with the learning disability to excercise some control in thier lives.
Easy read leaflets have already been developed for some medications, it would be great to have a '1 stop shop'for them instead of having to trawl the web.
Posted by
pblake
February 16, 2010 at 08:13AM
it seems to me that the requirements for material aimed at the general public and one aimed at health professionals are not quite the same. Obviously information for the public needs to be in a format that explains basic concepts clearly and simply; however, SPCs can't be written that way because they are aimed at a different audience, and have a common European format that presumably would need Europe-wide consensus to change.
Posted by
klkl
February 23, 2010 at 11:47AM
I (the pharmacist) often have requests from patients whom cannot tolerate medicines due to their excipients. I have often attempted to find information regarding colouring agents in product literature.
Where the eMC fails is in not providing information for all licensed products particularly generic medicines.
A picture of description of the tablets / capsules would be fantastic and greatly help me to help improve my patients' compliance and experience of taking medicines. This information is available in the literature of some manufacturers and not others.
Until such time as all manufacturers so helpfully describe their products I'll rely on what PILs / SPCs I can get my hands on and my recently improved knowledge of E-numbers.
Where the eMC fails is in not providing information for all licensed products particularly generic medicines.
A picture of description of the tablets / capsules would be fantastic and greatly help me to help improve my patients' compliance and experience of taking medicines. This information is available in the literature of some manufacturers and not others.
Until such time as all manufacturers so helpfully describe their products I'll rely on what PILs / SPCs I can get my hands on and my recently improved knowledge of E-numbers.
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