Taking stock: the experience of medicines optimisation in ICSs (NHS Confederation, 2 June 2023)

Summary

This stocktake by NHS Confederation highlights insights from medicines optimisation forums on the experience of ICS medicines optimisation so far: the opportunities that exist, the barriers experienced, the support that is needed, and what the vision for medicines optimisation could achieve.

Content

Recommendations

1. System leadership. ICS leaders, including but not limited to chief pharmacists, should ensure that medicines optimisation teams are mainstream in projects and service redesigns from the start, so downstream effects and preventative impact of medicinal interventions, alongside social prescribing, can be considered and ensure best value.
2. Establish the right governance. ICS should consider establishing a clear board-level medicines lead, supported by appropriate system-wide committees and sub-committees, which help to provide multi-disciplinary expertise to drive transformation across each system. Governance arrangements should ensure a better balance with medicines optimisation teams between time spent on operational and transformational activity.
3. Build one medicines optimisation team. Alongside developing pharmacy workforce plans that develop innovative and rotational roles, ICBs should consider how they can build awareness of medicines optimisation right across the system including into social care, providing training where necessary.
4. Harness digital and data. Use shared care records to enable access to medicines information for relevant healthcare professionals across care pathways. Meanwhile, use system-wide data to assess incidence of avoidable harm, specifically inappropriate sodium valproate prescribing, as well as medicines expenditure, to establish an initial baseline in each system to measure success and improvement going forward.
5. Shared learning and self-improvement. ICSs should be supported to share learning about their respective progress transforming medicines optimisation to drive a process of peer learning and self-improvement. This could include learning on how different systems are delivering improvement in risk assurance; data analytics; digital interoperability; pharmacy workforce planning; development of rotational and cross-sector roles; and integrating medicinal and social prescribing.