Pharmacists could have wider role in falls prevention
Report says pharmacists could use MURs to help reduce risk of falls |
Community pharmacists may be able to refer elderly patients direct to a local multi-agency falls service as part of an initiative to increase their role in preventing falls in older people.
The idea of allowing community pharmacists to use a falls referral form,
already available to other health professionals, is being discussed by
East Sussex Local Pharmaceutical Committee and its local Hastings and
Rother Primary Care Trust.
The talks were launched after the LPC and PCT were involved in a joint
initiative about how community pharmacists can help prevent falls in
the elderly which also included the National Pharmacy Association, Better
Government for Older People — a network organisation of agencies
interested in preventing falls in older people — and East Sussex
County Council.
Vanessa Taylor, the LPC professional executive officer, told The
Journal: “One
of the things which came out of the joint initiative was that the majority
of people had no understanding of what community pharmacists did — they
still saw us as dispensers or people who recommend cough mixture for
minor ailments.
“But why can’t community pharmacists refer people to the
falls service — they
are in an ideal position to promote prevention of falls in the elderly.
Very often the community pharmacist or the driver delivering their prescribed
medicines is the only person that an elderly person will see every week.”
A report (PDF 860K) that was published following the joint initiative
suggests that community pharmacists could also use the opportunity created
through
medicines use reviews to help reduce the risk of falls in the elderly.
In addition, they could offer patients a risk assessment in the patient’s
own home or in the pharmacy to discover how likely it is that they may
suffer from a fall, the report suggests.
Pharmacists could also offer training to carers of the elderly in medicines
management, which could in turn reduce the risk of a fall, according
to the report “Together we can reduce falls through a partnership
between older people, community pharmacy and the public sector”.
The report, published last week and aimed at local authorities and other
health care professionals, also reveals that older people and agencies
want more information about the impact of the pharmacy contract on the
role of community pharmacists, especially how MURs could help prevent
falls.
They also want to see better discharge planning around medication, while
community pharmacists want to be better informed about local falls services.
The initiative is welcomed by Jenny Webb, NPA regional services development
manager, who said: “The learning from this project supports greater
involvement of community pharmacists at local level and their integration
into local falls preventive pathways.” |
The
Pharmaceutical Journal
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