Medication Adherence in the UK

Medicines optimisation is a vital agenda, not an agenda added on to something else we are trying to do, this is absolutely central to it. [3]

Sir David Nicholson, Chief Executive, NHS

43% of men and 50% of women reported that they had taken at least one prescribed medicine in the last week. [1]
Medicines use increases with age. 45% of medicines prescribed in the UK are for older people aged over 65 years and 36% of people aged 75 years and over take four or more prescribed medicines. [2]
In 2008/09, more than half a million bed days were attributed to adverse events caused by medicines, costing the NHS £235 million. [3]
Between 30 and 50% of prescribed medicines are not taken as recommended. [4]
Ten days after starting a new medicine, 30% of patients are already non-adherent. [4]
Of these, 55% of patients don’t realise they are not taking their medicines correctly, whilst 45% do. [4]
Adverse drug reactions account for 6.5% of hospital admissions and over 70% of the adverse drug reactions are avoidable. [3]
526,186 medication incidents are reported to National Patient Safety Agency between 2005 and 2010; 16% involve actual patient harm. Delayed or omitted doses (16%) and wrong dose (15%) are the commonest categories. [3]

My Medication Monitor