CHIC Launches New Service to Help Consumers Use OTC Medicines

A new support service to help consumers use over-the-counter (OTC) medicines correctly has been launched by the Consumer Health Information Centre (CHIC).

The service provides an education leaflet and advice line. The key objective is to provide consumers with an information resource which is dedicated to giving advice on using OTC medicines.

The services also aims to:

- encourage the safe and effective use of OTC medicines
- increase confidence in the safety and efficacy of OTC medicines
- provide support to potential misusers of OTC medicines.

The education leaflet highlights the availability of the new over-the-counter medicines advice line. The advice line is run by a medical charity, the Medical Advisory Service which employs nurses who are disabled through illness or work injury.

The nurses will give advice on queries relating to usage, storage and interactions of different OTC medicines. They will also be able to give broader advice relating to a caller's illness - and will be able to discuss with the caller which types of OTC medicines would be suitable for them.

This service gives people another way of getting advice if they are not able to talk to their pharmacist or GP.

Dr Ian Banks, CHIC Advisor says, "This new service is important for the many of us that might have questions about medication that we buy from a pharmacy. This advice line has been launched as a source of information dedicated to the many over-the-counter medicines that people take for a range of health conditions. We hope this service will help ensure that people are using OTC medicines in the safest and most effective way possible."

Kathleen McGrath from the Medical Advisory Service (MAS) says "The nurses involved have years of experience in answering advice lines. They will be able to offer immediate advice on queries, or if the caller has a more complex problem, the nurse taking the call will be able to offer a call back counselling service.

"All calls will be monitored, and the MAS will only stop the call back service when the nurse is certain that the caller has received all the help they need or has been successfully referred on to a specialist support service."

Responding to recent demand, CHIC has also launched a new factsheet for pregnant women on taking over-the-counter medicines. The factsheet, 'OTC Medicines and Pregnancy' is available via the CHIC website.

A million leaflets have been distributed to pharmacists across the UK . Pharmacists are being encouraged to put the leaflet on self-selection or into the bags of customers they feel could benefit from the information.

CHIC is an information service run by the Proprietary Association of Great Britain (PAGB) to help people understand and treat everyday healthcare problems.

The advice line is open from 10am - 3pm Monday to Fridays and calls are charged at standard national rate. The number is +44-(0)20-8742-7042. Copies of the leaflet "Getting the best from the medicines you buy" can also be downloaded from the CHIC website at www.chic.org.uk

  (29/1/05)