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Polypharmacy guidance: Appropriate prescribing making medicines safe, effective and sustainable 2026-2029
General principles
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ManageMeds - polypharmacy
General principles
Polypharmacy guidance: Appropriate prescribing making medicines safe, effective and sustainable 2026-2029
National
What is polypharmacy and why is it important?
Who is this guidance targeted at?
Who should be targeted for review?
Causes of inappropriate polypharmacy
The prescribing cascade
Medicines implicated in causing harm: high risk medicines
Interventions for those with polypharmacy
Deprescribing as part of a person-centred approach
Impact of polypharmacy across care settings
Methodology used in the current guidance
Medication reviews for those with polypharmacy and/or high-risk medicines across different care settings
Prescriber interventions for the older adult with frailty receiving care at home to reduce medication-related harm
Medication review for those with polypharmacy receiving care at home and in care homes
Programmes to address polypharmacy and high-risk medication
Medication appropriateness/safety indicators
Cumulative toxicity
Case finding indicators
Templates for recording review and coding for review
Economic impact of undertaking reviews
Addressing health inequalities
Emerging areas of research and development (pharmacogenomics, AI)
Unlicensed, and off-label use, medicines (when a medicine is used for a condition outside its Marketing Authorisation)
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Polypharmacy guidance: Appropriate prescribing making medicines safe, effective and sustainable 2026-2029
