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Resources to support structured medication reviews (SMRs) in care homes in England have been published by the Health Innovation Network (HIN).
On 17 September 2025, the HIN said that the new resources “address a critical need to enhance medication safety and patient wellbeing within care home settings”, adding that its polypharmacy programme “has been working to address these issues by empowering patients and clinicians to make informed decisions about prescribing”.
The materials are directed at patients, their relatives and care home staff, which include draft invitation letters to residents and their families; patient-facing leaflets about safely stopping a medicine; and posters aimed at non-medical care home staff explaining what SMRs are for, and how staff can support residents with them.
The aim of the resources is help patients living in care homes, as well as their relatives and their carers, understand the importance of SMRs and contribute more effectively to their own use of medicines.
All the materials can be downloaded from the HIN’s website.
The resources were developed by the National Institute for Health and Care Research Yorkshire and Humber Patient Safety Research Collaboration, in collaboration with care home residents and staff.
Commenting on the new tools, Tom Gentry, head of health and care policy at charity Age UK, said: “Older people living in residential care are more likely to be living with multiple long-term conditions and taking multiple medicines. Ensuring these treatments are optimised can make a huge difference to their health and wellbeing.
“SMRs play an essential role in making this happen, and these resources can help residents and their relatives to be properly informed and involved in this process.”
Sundus Jawad, chair of the National Pharmacy Care Home Faculty, said the new resources “recognise that residents, care home staff and families play a vital role in managing medicines and optimising their use”.
“The use of these resources will mean that residents will be empowered to actively engage in discussions about their medicines and have an opportunity to share what matters most to them,” he added.
Tase Oputu, chair of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society’s English Pharmacy Board, said: “SMRs are essential to help people get the most from their medicines and reduce harm from polypharmacy, particularly those in care homes who are often managing multiple treatments.
“Families and patients should feel empowered to play a more active role in SMR and shared decision-making.
“Pharmacists are central to delivering SMRs and must be supported with time and resources to do so effectively.”
In June 2025, HIN published results of a quality improvement project, which found that accessible patient-facing resources significantly improved patient engagement with SMRs among people living in areas of high deprivation who were known to be at risk of polypharmacy and were not engaging regularly with their GP practice.
