Respiratory conditions - quality prescribing strategy: improvement guide 2024 to 2027

Respiratory conditions are a major contributor to ill health, disability, and premature death – the most common conditions being asthma and COPD. This quality prescribing guide is designed to ensure people with respiratory conditions are at the centre of their treatment.


12. Scottish Therapeutics Utility (STU)

The Scottish Therapeutics Utility (STU) is a computer programme that uses data from GP IT systems with a focus on repeat prescribing and other clinical areas including respiratory prescribing. It generates a suite of standardised reports to facilitate targeted medicines management activity. The reports populate an interactive dashboard using prescription items issued by an individual practice. STU works alongside the clinical system to provide direct access to the individual patient clinical record for ease of use to make changes if required and supports identification and prioritisation of patients for review.

STU is licensed by the Effective Prescribing and Therapeutics Division at the Scottish Government and is available to GP practices throughout Scotland free of charge. The Pharmacy Team within GP practices are using this programme already and will assist any interested clinicians. Find more information on STU and how to access it on the Effective Prescribing and Therapeutics Division website.

STU searches will support the prescribing indicators discussed in this document to allow identification of patients for review.

The screenshot below shows how the searches look within STU. Screenshot taken from test system with no real patient details displayed.

Figure 11: STU Screenshot – Example from Respiratory Tab – Data Tables
A screenshot from STU showing an example from the Respiratory tab

Contact

Email: EPandT@gov.scot

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