Barriers to Safe Prescribing

Both patients and clinicians normalised hearing and vision loss as a feature of ageing rather than a condition requiring clinical accommodation. Apparent understanding during consultations did not reliably translate to correct medication use at home. A fundamental barrier to safe prescribing was that many older patients did not disclose their sensory impairment during consultations. Patient records frequently lacked accurate, current documentation of sensory impairment, and digitisation from paper records often failed to carry over sensory impairment codes. Prescribers often waited for visible indicators such as white canes or guide dogs to identify visual impairment, missing patients with less obvious impairments.