Trigger questions useful to identify medicines support need
The inclusion of four simple questions during the single assessment process (SAP) to trigger referral for an in-depth medication review can have a significant impact on the quality of patient care. This is the conclusion of a project that published its
final report this week.
The project, carried out by the London older people services development
programme, identified 55 older people out of a sample of 68 who had an
unmet pharmaceutical care need. Of these, 32 were referred for a detailed
medication review.
The medication reviews showed that 88 per cent of older people needed
an alteration to one of more of their medicines. As a result of the pharmacist’s
assessment, 40 per cent of prescribed medicines were changed. Furthermore,
25 out of the 32 older people required support from a community pharmacist
to manage their medicines better.
Ian Philp, national clinical director for older people’s services,
Department of Health, commented: “Many older people are taking
multiple medications and would benefit from a review by a pharmacist.
This report highlights how improved assessment by front-line health and
social care staff can identify older people who would benefit from this.”
The review process involved a SAP assessor asking four previously identified “medicines
trigger” questions as part of the SAP. The four questions are:
Do you need help getting a regular supply of your medicines? Do you always
take all of your medicines the way the doctor wants you to? Can you swallow
and use all of your medicines and get all of your medicines out of their
containers? Do you think that some of your medicines could work better?
If the response to any of these questions was “yes”, the
patient was referred to an assessing pharmacist for an in-depth medication
review. The pharmacist drew up a pharmaceutical care plan that was sent
to key people
involved in the care of the patient. A community pharmacist then implemented
the pharmaceutical care package and was responsible for monitoring progress.
A follow-up review was undertaken after six months.
The project won
a Pharmaceutical Care Award earlier this year (PJ, 3
July, p16). |
The
Pharmaceutical Journal
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