Managing medicines

The person you care for is likely to be taking medicines. Managing medicines is an important task for you as a carer.

You should make a medicine list to help you make sure the person you care for takes the right medicines at the right time and to provide information for doctors, pharmacists or emergency carers.

You will also need to keep track of when medicine was bought and prescribed. This can help you to plan when you will need to buy more or to get a new prescription.

How to make a medicine list

The medicine list is part of your emergency care plan. You can download a blank emergency care plan to fill in.

Download a blank Emergency Care Plan to fill in

In your emergency care plan, your medicine plan should list:

• all the medicines the person is taking (including prescription medicines and medicines you buy over the counter)
• when each medicine is taken
• what doses are taken

You might also want to write down:

• what each medicine looks like
• what each medicine is for
• how the medicines need to be stored

How to store medicines

Medicines should be stored in a secure, lockable place out of the reach of children. If they need to be stored in the fridge, your pharmacist should tell you and it will also be written on the label.

Daily pill boxes can help you make sure the person you care for takes the right medicines each day. You can buy a daily pill box and put the medicines in it at the beginning of each week. Your pharmacist can also give you medicines in a personalised daily pack (known as a Webster-pak).

Getting help with medicines

If you need help with managing medicines or want to check what the person you care for is taking, you can ask your doctor or pharmacist to do a home medicines review.

If the person you care for changes which medicines they are taking, you will need to monitor them to make sure the new medicine doesn’t cause problems or side effects. Talk with your doctor or pharmacist if you think there might be problems.