Step four: ending the consultation
Step four: ending the consultation
There is often an overload of information when a patient has first been diagnosed with PD.
Consultation-closing questions
If the patient cannot think of any questions immediately, suggest they write them down later and come back to discuss them.
Emphasise that if they have any issues with compliance with their medication, they seek advice either from you or their specialist before stopping any medicine.
Appointments vary between hospitals but PD patients are usually seen in an outpatient setting every six to 12 months.
The patient charity has local community groups that bring PD patients together and also offers a range of support resources and services.
Referrals can be made to speech and language therapy, physiotherapy and occupational therapy.
Making a reflective account – an example
You could use your conversations with patients with Parkinson’s disease as part of a reflective account for your revalidation submission. Here is an illustration of what an example taken from your practice might look like to show how you would have met last year’s selected standards:
“There is good evidence of the positive impact on medicines adherence of early input from community pharmacists when treatments are first started. This is particularly important in light of the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“I read a CPD module in Pharmacy Magazine about conversations with people with Parkinson’s disease who have been prescribed a new medicine. This caused me to reflect on my current practice when receiving prescriptions for the three key PD treatments for motor symptoms and how I could be more proactive in exploring with the patient their understanding of their new medicine(s).
“As most pharmacies will have a small number of patients with PD, this is not something that will happen on a daily basis. I learned that my pharmacy might expect to have one or perhaps two patients a year who are newly diagnosed, so I have briefed my team members to look out for new or changed prescriptions for PD medicines.
“If and when a person with PD is referred to my pharmacy for a NMS consultation or I initiate one myself, I can use the structure and tips from the module to guide the consultation.
“In terms of the GPhC standards, I have demonstrated good communication skills in my team briefing and furthered my professionalism by exploring what local resources are available, as well as reviewing the Parkinson’s UK website and how to become a member.”