Patients are being helped to get the most out of their medicines under government pilot schemes launched this week.

Under the schemes, 26 NHS primary care trusts will try various ways to improve the way medicines are used.

These include pharmacies giving general advice, or more detailed reviews and monitoring, to patients.

For example, they may establish regular, confidential discussions with the patient on the patient's medication and lifestyle.

More use may be made of nurses in advising patients on how to use their medicines properly.

The repeat prescribing process may be streamlined by, for example, introducing telephone prescribing.

GPs' surgeries may carry out surveys or telephone interviews with patients to canvass their ideas, under the schemes.

Medicine 'logjams'

Richard Seal, project team leader for medicines management at the National Prescribing Centre, told BBC News Online the schemes were aimed at "unblocking various logjams" involving medicines in the NHS.

They may prevent illnesses caused by patients using medicines wrongly, he said.

And they could also save the NHS huge amounts of money wasted on medicines which are not taken at all.

The government hopes that by 2004 every area in England will have such a scheme in place.

Health Minister Hazel Blears said: "These schemes will help patients get the maximum benefit from their medicines whilst stopping NHS waste.

"They will make the best use of pharmacist's skills.

"And it will mean pharmacists work more closely with GPs as part of the primary care team to deliver real improvements to prescribing and healthcare."