Success of medicines management initiative continues with second
wave
The success of the second wave of the Medicines Management Services Collaborative is described in a new review.
The second wave sites,
involving 40 primary care trusts, were assessed after 12 months participation
in the
initiative. Among the positive
results are:
• The proportion of patients aged over 65 years on four or more regular
medicines who had a documented medication review in the previous 12 months
increased from 28 per cent at baseline to 60 per cent.
• The percentage of requests for repeat prescriptions that did not include
all regular items fell from 48 per cent to 37 per cent.
• The percentage of prescriptions issued without specific dosage instructions
fell from 20 per cent to 11 per cent.
• The proportion of patients in care homes who had a documented medication
review in the previous 12 months increased from 28 per cent to 44 per
cent.
• The percentage of general practices receiving discharge medication
information from hospital
before a patient requested a repeat prescription increased from 28 per
cent to 70 per cent.
The report concludes that the second wave sites are committed to making
medicines management improvements using a collaborative approach.
The message, it suggests, is “keep it simple, keep it small and
then, if it works, spread”. As a result of using this
approach, the report notes: “There are real benefits emerging from
local developments in terms of better patient access and involvement,
safer and simpler medication regimens, better value for money, waste
reduction and better working relationships across primary health care
teams.”
The report also states that the second wave sites have learnt from the
activities undertaken by sites in the first wave of the programme. In
particular, improvements were implemented more quickly and more extensively
in the second wave sites.
The report adds: “Evidence of local and regional medicines management
networks is emerging.”
The health improvement and value for money measures undertaken by the
PCTs involved in the second wave are listed in the report.
In addition, it includes
examples of initiatives and
activities to improve medicines management.
The review is available at the National Prescribing Centre website (and
also www.npc.nhs.uk).
The overall medicines management service collaborative programme now
includes 146 primary care trusts. A fourth wave was recently launched.
Further reports about the first and third waves of the programme will
be published shortly. |
