Swedes learn from medicines management project
Claes Mörlin (right) discusses the award-winning project with pharmacy technician Carol Torrans |
The integrated medicines management project based at Antrim Area Hospital, Northern Ireland, has attracted the attention of colleagues from Sweden who plan to set up a similar scheme.
A five-person delegation from Uppsala county met pharmacists, doctors
and nurses last week to discuss the practical aspects of integrated medicines
management.
Claes Mörlin, medical director, Akademiska Hospital, Uppsala, explained
that he was interested in measuring and improving the quality of drug
treatment. Agneta Eklund added that this year’s main project in
Uppsala focused on drugs and the elderly and the objective is to improve
prescribing for those over 80 years of age.
“We want to ensure that there are regular medication reviews for
these patients,” she said. Ms Eklund heads the drug unit in Uppsala,
a county council body that makes independent recommendations about drugs
and drug products based on costs and effectiveness.
Management of medicines across the primary-secondary care interface is
a critical issue in both Sweden and Northern Ireland. In Antrim several
steps have been taken to reduce the chances of error and confusion at
this point.
They include sending an updated summary of medications to the community
pharmacist at the time of discharge, prescribing support services to “tidy
up” repeat-prescribing systems and standardisation of the commonly
used products throughout primary and secondary care. The scheme won a
Pharmaceutical Care Award in June 2004 and has been welcomed by community
pharmacists and GPs, who find that it helps to eliminate common errors
and misunderstandings. |
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