SPS Community Pharmacy Podcasts
Written by AlisonFreemantle on Friday 20th February 2026
About problematic polypharmacy or overprescribing interventions
About this podcast series
In this podcast series, SPS discuss “five moments” when community pharmacy teams have the opportunity to spot and engage in meaningful conversations about problematic polypharmacy or overprescribing.
Rakhi Aggarwal, Primary Care Lead at Specialist Pharmacy Service speaks to Lelly Oboh, Consultant Pharmacist, Care of Older People about having these conversations with patients in a safe and sensitive way.
Problematic polypharmacy is taking multiple medicines when they are no longer appropriate, the benefits don’t outweigh the harms, combinations cause risk, or treatment becomes unmanageable for the patient. Overprescribing is using a medicine when there is a better non-medicine alternative, or the use is inappropriate for that patient’s circumstances and wishes.
With patients visiting community pharmacies more frequently than any other health setting, these “5 moments” offer everyday opportunities to support patient-centred care to reduce harm and improve outcomes.
Each podcast offers practical questions, examples, and take-away messages to help you feel confident supporting patients, carers and colleagues in tackling problematic polypharmacy.
The five moments
Each podcast in the series describes one of each of the 5 moments encountered every day in community pharmacies, when tackling problematic polypharmacy. These podcasts can be listened to on their own, or as part of the whole series.
Access the podcasts here: