Across the UK, there have been some improvements, including more consistency in advice provision to patients though the use of standard operating procedures in pharmacies and through better training of technicians and counter assistants. However,

the patient often still remains a receptacle for the receipt of care with, in the main, having little involvement in their disease management. It is time therefore to explore new approaches to getting patients more involved in their care. Improving medication adherence, which still seems to be stuck at the very resistant 50% mark, is central, as is getting better warning systems in place for when a patient with a chronic illness is getting ‘out of control’ such that they can either modify their own treatment under guidance and/or seek or obtain help once certain triggers are flagged. Early intervention can often result in the prevention of expensive hospitalisations this website and therefore ease the pressure on an already stretched secondary care system. The application of new monitoring and communication technology within healthcare is considered an innovative solution to the challenges

facing the health service, particularly as the population ages and the management of chronic illness becomes increasingly important. This ‘Connected Health’ concept, often involves the patient engaging in monitoring markers of disease control in their own home, with the data generated learn more being transmitted to a central triage centre. Healthcare staff (often trained nurses) at the triage centre, provide patients with feedback regarding

the next steps to be taken by the patient if the measured parameters are outside the ‘normal’ limits. This type of approach has resulted in some notable success, particularly within the VA system in the USA. Work in this area to date has, however, largely ignored the potentially pivotal input of pharmacists and in particular community pharmacists who are the key healthcare professionals in helping chronically ill patients manage their medicines in their own home (including adhering to the complex regimens which are often prescribed). The lack of integration of the activities of the general practitioner and the community pharmacist within the MYO10 primary care sector in the UK is still very evident and the pharmacist (or drug expert) often has little influence in disease management outside the secondary care sector. A technology supported ‘connected health’ approach involving the patient, the GP and the community pharmacist has the potential to lead to a much more integrated approach. Too often, however, the manufacturers of the home monitoring devices and the associated connectivity infrastructure used in the ‘connected health’ approach, forget that the primary healthcare system in the UK is complex and fragmented into small populations grouped around GP practices and community pharmacies.