Talking Meds - A PrescQIPP podcast
Engaging conversations about medicines-related dilemmas.
Talking Meds is hosted by Jonathan Underhill who, every two weeks, will chat to a fantastic guest about current medical issues and clinical dilemmas.
Jonathan has a background as a hospital clinical pharmacist but worked for many years at the National Prescribing Centre (NPC) developing innovative ways of teaching therapeutics, evidence-based medicine and clinical decision making to prescribers and their support teams. Until recently, he worked at NICE as a consultant clinical adviser in their Medicines Optimisation Team. He is now Medicines Clinical Adviser at PrescQIPP.
Jonathan and his guests will discuss topics such as new guidance from NICE on menopause, asthma, depression deprescribing and insomnia; how to tackle penicillin allergy de-labelling.
There will also be a series on ’Sensible prescribing in Older people with Jonathan and Lucy’, with consultant geriatrician and author Lucy Pollock.
PrescQIPP is a Community Interest Company. We operate on a not-for-profit basis for the benefit of NHS patients and organisations and help NHS organisations to improve medicines-related care to patients. Find out more here: https://www.prescqipp.info/
Talking Meds - A PrescQIPP podcast
39. Medicines optimisation during periods of fasting with Dr Salman Waqar
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Welcome to this episode of Talking Meds where we are going to be talking about taking medicines during periods of fasting. This is particularly relevant at times of the year like this during Ramadan or during Lent for some Christians who observe that. And of course intermittent fasting is very popular as a way of losing or maintaining weight. To discuss this I'm joined by Dr Salman Waqar.
Salman is a GP with a background in academia, policy, medical leadership, public health, and education & training. He also has a strong background in community organising and advocacy.
He has vast experience of teaching and training for organisations such as the Royal College of GPs and the Royal Pharmaceutical Society and has an honorary academic position at Imperial College London having published over 40 peer-reviewed papers and book chapters (see google scholar list here)
We think there is a significant learning need around medicines issues during periods of fasting, as well as an opportunity to engage with patients who may not otherwise access healthcare services. The resources linked below can help address this.
Resources mentioned in this episode;
- Ramadan Compendium, with risk stratification table
- Pharmaceutical Journal Article: Case-based learning: medicines management during Ramadan - How pharmacists can support patients in safely and effectively managing medications while fasting.
- Fasting during Ramadan and fitness for work implications | Occupational Medicine | Oxford Academic
- Ramadan and Diabetes: A Narrative Review and Practice Update | Diabetes Therapy | Springer Nature Link
PrescQIPP Annual Awards 2026 - Entries are now open for the 2026 PrescQIPP Awards - deadline: 15th May 2026
Now is the time to share all the good work you have done over the past year and be in for a chance to win a prestigious PrescQIPP award -
open to all teams working with the NHS across all sectors!
Categories for 2026:
- Addressing health inequalities
- Care homes/domiciliary care/carer medicines optimisation
- Data tools and technology to support medicines optimisation
- Enhanced productivity, sustainability and value for money
- Patient safety and address overprescribing
A new episode of Talking Meds will be available on the first Friday of the month.
If you have feedback or suggestions for future topics and guests please submit them to talkingmeds@prescqipp.info
PrescQIPP is funded by the NHS for the NHS, and our aim is to improve medicines-related care for patients. We do this by producing high quality evidence-based resources and training, and by facilitating networks between NHS organisations and professionals.
The majority of pharmacists and other healthcare professionals across the UK can access our resources by registering and logging on to our website. If you have any difficulty accessing the website you can email help@prescqipp.info and we’ll aim to sort things out for you.
Find out more about PrescQIPP here