Care homes and intermediate care

Switching between monitored dosage systems and patient pack dispensing

Many will be supportive of Boots’s decision to change its method of dispensing for care home residents from monitored dosage system (MDS) to patient pack dispensing (PPD). However, this U-turn prompted me to reflect on my original recommendation to care homes in Derbyshire, during the 1980s, f…

Think outside the box: replacing multicompartment compliance aids

In January 2019, Boots announced that it was changing the way it dispenses medicines to care homes — from multicompartment compliance aids to original packs.…

Boots to switch from monitored dosage systems to patient pack dispensing in care homes

Exclusive: Boots is changing the way it dispenses medication for care home residents from monitored dosage systems to patient pack dispensing from 1 March 2019.…

Pharmacists should manage medicines during transitions of care to improve medicines safety, NHS Improvement proposes

A nominated pharmacist should be designated to manage medicines during patient transitions between all settings, NHS Improvement has proposed as part of a consultation on medicines safety.…

Government announces extra role for pharmacists in care homes as part of £3.5bn funding package

The government has announced an extra £3.5bn for primary and community care by 2023/2024 in an effort to reduce hospital admissions.…

New care home roles for pharmacists and pharmacy technicians will not be filled until March 2019

NHS England has said that 240 pharmacy roles in care homes supported by the Pharmacy Integration Fund will not be fully deployed until March 2019, despite expectations that they would be filled five months earlier.…

A day in the life of a senior primary care pharmacy technician

Helen Pinney details a typical day as a senior primary care pharmacy technician.…

Pharmacists in care homes could save NHS £135m, says RPS’s Robbie Turner

Robbie Turner, director of pharmacy and member experience at the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, wrote to all 44 sustainability and transformation partnership leads to reiterate how the pharmacy sector should be embedded in STP implementation plans and working groups.…

Medicines optimisation in care homes: the role of the pharmacy professional

Care homes have been described as ‘healthcare black holes’, so why should pharmacy professionals work in one? Steve Hemsley discusses the opportunities and challenges.…

National Assembly for Wales calls for ‘systemic changes’ to antipsychotic prescribing in care homes

Care home residents taking dementia medication should receive mandatory three-monthly medication reviews, the National Assembly for Wales’ Health, Social Care and Sport Committee has said. The reviews should be carried out “with a view to reducing or stopping the medication following the…