- Free of chargeWebster-paks are one of the free services at Abermain Chemist
- Sealed and tamper-evidentDoses set out to the schedule your prescriber decides
- Can come to your doorFree local delivery can include your Webster-pak
What is a Webster pack?
Healthdirect describes a pharmacy pack, also called a blister pack or a Webster pack, as something your pharmacist can make up if you have trouble remembering which medicines to take when. It helps you take the right medicine at the right time.
The formal name is a dose administration aid, or DAA. The Pharmacy Programs Administrator defines one as a well-sealed, tamper-evident device that lets individual doses be organised according to the schedule set by your prescriber. The seal is what sets it apart from a plastic weekly dosing aid, which Healthdirect notes is a container you fill with your own tablets each week.
Who a Webster-pak suits
Healthdirect says people taking five or more medicines every day are more likely to make a mistake with them, and it lists some common health problems that get in the way:
- poor eyesight, which makes the label instructions hard to read
- arthritis, which makes medicine packets hard to open
- memory loss, which makes a dose easy to forget
Webster-pak eligibility
The Australian Government funds a DAA Program through pharmacies, and its patient criteria cover people living at home who hold a government concession card and either have difficulty managing their medicines because of literacy or language, physical disability or cognitive difficulties, or take five or more prescription medicines and are having trouble with them. At Abermain Chemist, Webster-paks are free. To ask whether a pack fits your medicines, call us on (02) 4930 4442.
Starting your Webster-pak in Abermain
Before you ring, write down everything you take, including vitamins and supplements. Healthdirect recommends keeping a current medicines list anyway, because it helps everyone involved in your care know exactly what you are on.
If your scripts come from more than one doctor, consider a medication review before the first pack is made up. The pharmacist can then check that everything going into it is safe to take together.
When your medicines change
Every dose in a sealed pack is set in advance, so a new tablet or a changed strength affects the whole card. Let us know as soon as your doctor starts, stops or alters anything, and please do not push tablets out of the blister to adjust it yourself. Unsure whether a change has reached us? Ring before you open the next card.
After a hospital stay: Healthdirect lists a recent hospital admission as a good reason for a medicines review. Show us your discharge paperwork before you go back to an older pack.
Webster-pak questions
Can my Webster-pak be delivered?
Yes. Abermain Chemist runs free local delivery, and your pack can be part of it. The free medication delivery page lists the areas covered.
What about inhalers, drops and creams?
A blister pack only holds doses you swallow. Inhalers, eye drops, creams and patches stay in their original packaging, so keep using them as directed and ask a pharmacist if you are unsure how they fit around your pack.
Packing is one part of how we look after your medicines; see the full range of medication management services.
Ask about a free Webster-pak
Talk to a pharmacist in Abermain from Monday to Friday or on Saturday morning, or phone ahead so we can go through your medicines with you before anything is packed.