Are your medicines actually working for you?
According to Professor Nick Barber, probably not as well as you think. In this episode of The Aural Apothecary, Jamie, Gimmo and STC are joined by Professor Nick Barber — pharmacist, academic and author of the new book How to take Drugs — for a sharp, eye-opening conversation about why medicines so often fail in the real world. Not because the drugs are useless, but because taking medicines is far more complicated than we pretend.
They explore the messy reality behind adherence, side effects, polypharmacy and patient behaviour — and why healthcare systems routinely overestimate what medicines can achieve while underestimating how hard they are to use properly.
Along the way, Nick reflects on decades spent researching medicines optimisation and patient safety, arguing that the future of healthcare may depend less on discovering new treatments and more on helping people use existing ones better.
A thoughtful, provocative conversation about one of modern medicine’s biggest blind spots.
Buy the book here https://www.panmacmillan.com/authors/nick-barber/how-to-take-drugs/9781035072132
Two seminal papers by Nick , discussed on the podcast:
What constitutes good prescribing? https://www.bmj.com/content/310/6984/923
Quality of medication use in primary care--mapping the problem, working to a solution: a systematic review of the literature https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19772551/
Website discussed on the podcast re ASSESSING MEDICATION FOR ANTICHOLINERGIC BURDEN (USING THE ANTICHOLINERGIC EFFECT ON COGNITION TOOL) AND FOR QTc PROLONGATION, HYPONATRAEMIA, BLEEDING, DIZZINESS, DROWSINESS and CONSTIPATION Medichec (https://medichec.com/)
About Professor Nick Barber Professor
Nick Barber is one of the UK’s leading experts in pharmacy practice, medicines optimisation and patient safety. He has held senior academic and leadership roles across healthcare and higher education and has spent decades researching how medicines are used in the real world.
As with all of our guests, Nick shares with us his Memory Evoking Medicine, a career anthem and book. The drug choice with a deeply personal story that underpins the whole ethos of the book.
Gimmo commits podultary! Listen to his appearance on the excellent ‘Knowing You’ podcast with friend of the show Sarah Cripps on all major podcast platforms: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/sarahcripps_leadership-qualityimprovement-mentalhealth-share-7442815050563809280-nDgR
From Prescription to Ocean — A TEDx Talk by Jamie Hayes We’re incredibly proud to share that Aural Apothecary co-host Jamie Hayes has taken to the TEDx stage with a thought-provoking talk: Prescription to Ocean: The Hidden Impact of Medicines https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=swCLNaAG5qY Jamie explores a fascinating and urgent question: What happens to our medicines once they leave the prescription pad — and how do they impact the world beyond the patient? It’s a journey that connects healthcare, the environment, and our shared responsibility for the future. You’ll never think about prescribing (or taking) medicines in quite the same way again. Please take a few minutes to watch, reflect, and share — this is a conversation worth having.
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