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The Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) has published a training resource for pharmacists and pharmacy technicians deployed to care homes during the COVID-19 pandemic. It includes a self-assessment tool, and links to learning resources and case studies, to help pharmacy professionals identify gaps in knowledge and upskill where necessary. It also includes a care home consultation and review tool to help pharmacists deliver high-priority clinical reviews, or consultations with residents and their families.
The resource emphasises that working in a care home during the pandemic may be “very challenging”, and advises pharmacy professionals to “look after yourself with the same energy as you care for your residents”.
The training resource was developed with input from bodies including NHS England, the Centre for Postgraduate Pharmacy Education, the Association of Pharmacy Technicians UK, the Primary Care Pharmacy Association, the Royal College of GPs and the Specialist Pharmacy Service.
In a statement accompanying the resource’s publication, the RPS said that care homes “are now at the centre of the fight against coronavirus” and that the guidance would help pharmacists to become “part of the multidisciplinary team looking after some of the most vulnerable in society”.
According to data from the Office for National Statistics, 10,636 deaths involving COVID-19 were reported in care homes between 10 April 2020 and 22 May 2020.
