Tom Hitchens could be sitting on a gold mine. The energetic 77-year-old regularly travels from his Canterbury home to his gold claim at Hunts Beach near Fox Glacier in pursuit of the precious metal. But if you ask his children, Tom has already hit the jackpot.
Tom was regularly in and out of hospital due to his medications. His daughter Ngaire Button said the family was racked with worry.
“He went through ED a number of times. He nearly killed himself. I was worried about him, but I didn’t know what to do about it. He had so many different bottles of pills at home. The cleaner would say there’s pills everywhere – bottles on the floor, all over the benches.”
With the help of Canterbury’s Medication Management Service (MMS), Ngaire and her whānau can rest easier that Tom is safe in his own home.
In Canterbury, pharmacists work closely with the rest of a person’s healthcare team to help keep people well and out of hospital. Harm from medications is a leading cause of people ending up in hospital. The Medication Management Service (MMS) is one initiative that supports people on multiple medicines to understand their medications and how to take them safely.
Tom’s situation would have been enough to confuse anyone. Along with pre-prepared containers of medication packaged up by his pharmacist, Tom also had loose bottles of the same medications, different strengths of the same medicine and tablets that could have had dire consequences if taken together.
Add to the confusion about how much and when to take all of these different medicines, Tom also had some pills which he was having trouble swallowing and others that he admits he just didn’t like taking.
Taking up to six medications at once, Tom was having trouble keeping track of it all. “I’d take the medication when I wake up, then wonder later on whether I took it or not.”
Needless to say, this independent 77-year-old doesn’t want anything holding him back. When he’s not shovelling for gold, the returned serviceman and former railway worker is carving bone jewellery and keeping up with 14 lively grandchildren.
As part of the Medication Management Service, a mobile pharmacist worked with Tom’s GP to sort out his current prescriptions. The mobile pharmacist removed all of the loose medicines that were causing confusion and worked with Tom’s regular community pharmacist to replace the big tablets with easier to swallow alternatives. A support worker was also arranged to visit Tom every day for a while to help him get into a routine of correctly taking his medication.
“I started to realise how I had to take my medication. I’m very independent. A lot of people aren’t. But it’s good to have someone to help. I’d be lost if I didn’t have it. They kept me on the right track.”
With Tom not having been back to hospital for medication-related problems since, his whānau say the support they received is worth its weight in gold.
Speak to your local pharmacist about your medications and whether you qualify for support from the Medication Management Service.