The Phoenix Medical Practice has a pharmacy team that assists your doctor. The Pharmacy Technician helps organise your prescription requests and medication reviews. The Practice Pharmacist can assist with complex prescribing questions. For example, your doctor may ask you to see the Practice Pharmacist to review side effects or interactions for your medications.
The Practice Pharmacist works with your doctor to ensure you are on the best medications for your condition.
Refill Prescriptions
If you require prescription refills, please make an appointment to see our Pharmacy Technician, Melissa Murphy. Simple refills can be arranged at our Walk In Clinics and Rapid Access Clinics as well. The Pharmacy Technician will arrange for your prescriptions to be refilled and checked by the doctor.
We issue between one month and one year of medications at a time. This depends on when your doctor thinks you should be reviewed. Because your doctor wants to review you before issuing more refills, we are not able to provide telephone or faxed prescriptions.
Should you run out of medication before you are able to see our technician, then contact your pharmacist who may also be able to assist.
Affordable Medications
Sadly, Canadian Medicare does not cover the costs of medications for all patients. (In our Scottish Medical Practice, almost all medications will soon be free of charge to all patients.)
This can cause terrible problems for some patients. If patients can't afford simple preventative medications, they end up become more sick. This means more illness, more time in hospital, more costs in medications over time, and possibly an earlier death. We think that Medicare should cover the cost of almost all medications for everyone, like Scotland. We think that this would be cost effective as it would keep people healthier. Healthy patients cost Medicare less money overall.
Some patients ask about free samples. We don't stock samples of medications. This is because 'free' sample are almost always for more expensive medications, which cost patients more in money or problems in the long run.
Instead, we always recommend the most cost-effective medication when prescribing.
Medication Reviews
You may be asked to attend for one or more Medication of Chronic Disease reviews during the year. Our Practice Pharmacist carries out medication reviews for patients on four or more long term medications, and our Practice Nurses carry our Chronic Disease Reviews for long term problems.
Opiate / Narcotic Painkillers
Oxycodone and hydromorphone
PEI, like the rest of North America, is experiencing an epidemic of prescription drug abuse largely due to the hugely addictive nature of these two strong narcotics. There has been a huge increase in the number of deaths from accidental overdose from these drugs.
There are safer alternatives which do not produce the 'high' or 'buzz' that these drugs do, and are therefore less addictive.
We will not start Oxycodone or Hydromorphone prescriptions except in terminal care patients. Patients already on oxycodone or hydromorphone will have these medications replaced over the next few months with safer drugs. Due to the dangers of addiction, strong opiates are usually only prescribed to patients after they pass a scoring system and sign an opiate contract.
