Medicines management
Medicines management is a key priority for NHS reform.
Hospitals
NICE Guideline and medication management
The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE)
Guideline for the diagnosis and treatment of Parkinson’s disease
(June 2006) recommends that people with Parkinson’s admitted to
hospital or care homes should have their medication:
- given at appropriate times which in some cases may mean
allowing self-medication
- adjusted only after discussion with a specialist in
Parkinson’s
It also states, to avoid the potential for acute akinesia or
neuroleptic malignant syndrome do not:
- withdraw antiparkinsonian medication abruptly
- allow medication to fail suddenly due to poor absorption (for
example, gastroenteritis, abdominal surgery)
Visit the NICE website for more
information
A Spoonful of Sugar
The Audit Commission reviewed the topic of
medicines management in 2001 and published their findings in
A Spoonful of Sugar.
This identified some of the key initiatives required to
modernise the area of medicines management.
Medicines Management Framework
In December 2003, the Department of Health
asked trusts to score themselves against the Medicines Management
Framework. As well as outlining the importance of
self-administration where possible for people where timing is vital
(including Parkinson's), the report contains examples of good
medicines management practice, specifically relating to Parkinson's
disease.
Medicines Management Framework
Healthcare Commission - Acute hospital portfolio,
medicines management
This report presents the national findings of the 2005/2006
Healthcare Commission review of medicines management within all 173
acute and specialist NHS trusts in England.
Healthcare Commission Review
In April 2006, the PDS launched the 'Get it on time' campaign, a
campaign to ensure that people with Parkinson's get their
medication on time, every time, in hospitals.
Read more about the 'Get it on time'
campaign.
Care homes
Handled with Care?
In February 2006, the Commission for Social
Care Inspection (CSCI) published an inspection report into
medicines management in care homes in England. This found that by
March 2005, 5,140 of the 11,543 homes for older people failed to
meet the National Minimum Standard on medication.
The standard for medication states that:
"The registered person ensures that there is a policy and staff
adhere to procedures, for the receipt, recording, storage,
handling, administration and disposal of medicines, and service
users are able to take responsibility for their own medication if
they wish, within a risk management framework. The service user,
following assessment as able to self-administer medication, has a
lockable space in which to store medication, to which suitably
trained, designated care staff may have access with the service
user’s permission".
The inspectors from CSCI found that where
homes failed to meet the standards residents were given the wrong
medicine or somebody else's medicines, medicines were given in the
wrong dose or not at all and medication records were not being
kept. Care home staff were either poorly trained or not trained at
all. Given the importance of effective medicines management
for people with Parkinson’s the PDS is seeking to ensure that
standards and systems are in place to facilitate, implement and
monitor good practice guidelines.
Read
more on the CSCI
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