Discharge guidance to reduce medicines-related risk
Guidance for health care teams |
Detailed guidance for those involved in moving patients between different health care settings has been launched by a group of pharmacy organisations with the aim of reducing medicines-related risks on admission, transfer or discharge.
“Moving patients, moving medicines, moving safely”, has been
jointly produced by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, the Guild of Healthcare
Pharmacists, the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee and the
Primary Care Pharmacists Association.
The guidance covers England and Wales but is expected to be of benefit
in Scotland, too. It includes a list of 13 elements that should be in
place to maximise effective transfer and minimise the risks relating
to medicines use, together with a template to use for recording an organisation’s
state of readiness in each of these areas. This is followed by a nine-point
action plan for improving efficiency of transfer, with a further template
to help in preparing an action plan for an organisation.
Society Council member Sid Dajani, who chairs the Council’s Practice
Committee, said: “Medication issues are of particular concern when
patients are being transferred from one health care setting to another.
This new guidance and workbook will help pharmacists, primary care organisations,
NHS trusts and other health care professionals to measure and reduce
the risks to patients during transfer. It will also aid communication
to ensure a much more seamless and compliant approach.”
Andrew Alldred, chairman of the guild’s practice committee, said
that transfer of medicines between care settings is known to introduce
risks — risks that are being targeted in the Institute for Healthcare
Improvement’s “100k lives campaign”, which aims to
save 100,000 lives worldwide in 18 months by improving care and reducing
patient harm.
“We hope that the information in this document will help raise
awareness and the use of the checklist to measure the organisation’s
performance will assist in identifying areas where practice can be improved
to reduce
some of the potential risks to patients.”
Copies of the workbook and guidance cost £20 and can be obtained
from the Royal Pharmaceutical Society practice division by e-mailing
practice@rpsgb.org
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