A joint venture between the University of Otago School of Pharmacy and Southern District Health Board, the outpatient clinic will offer patients referred by clinicians a free, hour-long appraisal of the patient's current regime of medicines.
The pharmacist would look at how the number and/or type of drugs the patient took could be modified to reduce side effects or to improve their health.
The Southern region has one of the highest rates of polypharmacy - concurrent use of multiple medications - in New Zealand.
SDHB deputy commissioner Richard Thomson said he had long believed that patients would be healthier if they took fewer drugs, and that cutting the drugs bill would help the health budget.
"In medication management we have few examples of a team approach but now we have one, and I really welcome this initiative ...
"We now have somewhere that patients and GPs and hospitals and specialists can go to for complex medication management."
Dean of Pharmacy Carlo Marra said the clinic provided benefits not only for patients, but also for students.
"It will be an ideal training round for pharmacy students. What they learn in the clinic will be crucial ... and they can learn to provide effective medication to their patients."
The clinic was officially opened by Health Minister David Clark, who hoped that it would help ensure people took their medications properly.
"Not everyone who gets a prescription takes their medicine as prescribed - nearly 260,000 adults and 28,00 children didn't collect a prescription last year due to cost.
"I am pleased this clinic will work closely with the DHB and with the Primary Health organisation to identify patients who need extra support to manage their medicines."
The new clinic is in the School of Physiotherapy building.
The SDHB has funded a full-time pharmacist to run the clinic for patients referred from Dunedin Hospital, and pharmacists employed by the School of Pharmacy would also be invited to practise in the clinic.
