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Showing results for tags 'Pharmacist'.
Found 182 results
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Content ArticleLast year, 63 healthcare professionals in England were found stealing controlled drugs and/or providing care whilst working under the influence of controlled drugs. By law, designated bodies must have a Controlled Drug Accountable Officer (CDAO). This is a case study demonstrating the role of the CDAO and safety of controlled drugs.
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Content ArticleMedicines reconciliation and medication reviews play an integral part in medicine optimisation. Medicines reconciliation is the process of accurately listing a person’s medicines. This could be when they're admitted into a service or when their treatment changes. It involves recording a current list of medicines, including over-the-counter and complementary medicines. Then, the list is compared with the medicines the person is actually using. It involves recognising and resolving any discrepancies and documenting any changes. The medicines reconciliation process will vary depending on the care setting that the person has moved into (or from). Trained and competent staff should carry out the medicines reconciliation. They should consult with a health professional. Ideally, this should be the person’s GP, nurse or pharmacist.
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Content ArticleThe pharmacy contribution to antimicrobial stewardship document focuses on the pharmacist’s role as part of a multidisciplinary approach in tackling the challenges of inappropriate use of antibiotics. The recommendations in this policy have been produced in order to contribute to wider efforts in meeting the challenge set by the UK Government in 2016 of reducing inappropriate antibiotic prescribing by 50% by 2020.
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Content ArticleGood patient-pharmacist communication improves health outcomes. There is, however, room for improving pharmacists’ communication skills. These develop through complex interactions during undergraduate pharmacy education, practice-based learning and continuing professional development. The aim of the research, published in Systemic Reviews, is to understand how educational interventions develop patient-pharmacist interpersonal communication skills produce their effects.
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Royal Pharmaceutical Society: Antimicrobial stewardship portal
Claire Cox posted an article in Medicine management
The AMS Portal signposts resources and information to promote learning about antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) and antibiotic resistance. The Portal focuses on resources in the UK for pharmacists and pharmacy teams and within each section they have identified key resources to support pharmacy practice within the UK. They recognise, however, the need to signpost worldwide information and resources from outside the UK and these are also included as additional links. The aim is to continuously develop the AMS Portal to be accessible across all healthcare professions, encouraging a multidisciplinary and collaborative approach for improvement of antimicrobial use. The AMS Portal is intended as a dynamic ‘living’ resource which is constantly revised and updated. -
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Royal Pharmaceutical Society: Pharmacy alerts
Claire Cox posted an article in Medication
Keep up to date with changes affecting your practice, including drug news, safety updates, drug alerts, legislative changes and new guidance or standards. These drug safety alerts are updated regularly by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society. -
Content ArticleThe Healthcare and Safety Investigation Branch (HSIB) identified a significant safety risk posed by the communication and transfer of information between secondary care, primary care and community pharmacy relating to medicines at the time of hospital discharge. A reference event was identified that resulted in a patient inadvertently receiving two anticoagulant medications at the same time, possibly causing an episode of gastrointestinal (digestive tract) bleeding. Increasingly, healthcare facilities in primary and secondary care are introducing digital solutions (electronic prescribing and medicines administration (ePMA) systems) to improve medicines safety. However, analysis of the reference event identified how ePMA systems can create their own risks – risks that will need to be addressed as these systems become more widespread. Other risk factors relating to prescribing and the discharge of the patient, including medicines reconciliation, availability of pharmacy services and weekend working, were identified during the investigation.
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About the Community Pharmacy Patient Safety Group
Patient Safety Learning posted an article in Community pharmacies
The Community Pharmacy Patient Safety Group provides a forum for community pharmacy organisations, competitors in a commercial sense, to openly share and learn from each other when things go wrong, as well as from other sectors and industries. They are a self-funded, self-created Group with a difference. They consider how learning from patient safety incidents can be applied across the pharmacy network and wider NHS, and then create the opportunities and resources to do just that. -
Content Article"It’s time to halt, take a break, and redraw the relationship between patient care and self-care. Self-care isn’t an optional luxury. It must sit at the heart of what we do, to ensure our teams can continue to rise to the challenges of working in the 21st century NHS, to give our patients the best of both ourselves, and the organisation so many of us are proud to be a part of."
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What do community pharmacists do? (June 2013)
Claire Cox posted an article in Community pharmacies
Watch this short video produced by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society to find out the role of the community pharmacist. -
Content ArticleFind out more about the work of hospital pharmacists and the wide variety of roles they play in the life of Guy's and St Thomas's Hospital in London. Pharmacists explain the complexities of their work on the ward, the part they play in formulating medicines and in medicines administration as well as dispensaries, highlighting how integral they are to the health of patients and the success of the multi-disciplinary healthcare team.
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Content ArticleThe Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP) is the only US nonprofit organisation devoted entirely to preventing medication errors. In this short video, produced by ISMP in partnership with the Temple University School of Pharmacy, experts discuss current medication safety concerns and offer practical error prevention recommendations.
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JAMA: Time of day and the decision to prescribe antibiotics (December 2014)
Claire Cox posted an article in Culture
This research paper discusses the problem of decision fatigue and how it can impact patient safety. The authors hypothesised that decision fatigue, if present, would increase clinicians’ likelihood of prescribing antibiotics for patients presenting with acute respiratory infections as clinic sessions wore on. -
Content ArticleThis is part of a continued professional development (CPD) module series for community pharmacy technicians. This module aims to help pharmacists and their teams recognise the importance of reporting patient safety incidents.
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Content ArticlePharmacy Voice’s Patient Safety Group has worked closely with the UK Medicines Information (UKMi) to further develop their risk assessment tool, which is used regularly in secondary care settings, to make the tool more accessible and valuable for community pharmacy teams. The Community Pharmacy Medication Safety Risk Assessment tool is designed as an aid in the systematic identification of potential patient safety issues associated with medicines before their introduction to clinical practice.
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Content ArticleThe Black Country Partnership NHS Foundation Trust's medication error policy and pathway describes the procedure that must be followed when a medication error occurs.
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Content Article
Transfers of Care Around Medicines (TCAM)
Claire Cox posted an article in Medication including labelling
When some patients leave hospital they can need extra support taking their prescribed medicines. This may be because their medicines have changed or they need a bit of help taking their medicines safely and effectively. The transfer of care process is associated with an increased risk of adverse effects. 30-70% of patients experience unintentional changes to their treatment or an error is made because of a miscommunication. -
Content ArticleThe International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP) has set up a FIP COVID-19 information hub with guidance to support pharmacists and the pharmacy workforce in responding to the pandemic. The updated guidance document takes into account newly available evidence and recommendations.
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Content ArticlePharmacy Times® interviewed Allison Hanson, PharmD, BCPS, 2019-2020 Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP) International Medication Safety Management Fellow, to discuss medication safety during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, including key medication safety takeaways from the pandemic and current advancement efforts in the promotion of knowledge around medication safety.
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Content Article
The problem with medication reconciliation
Claire Cox posted an article in Medication including labelling
Medication reconciliation (‘med rec’, as it is often called) refers to the ‘process of identifying the most accurate list of all medications a patient is taking … and using this list to provide correct medications for patients anywhere within the health system’. Two recent systematic reviews summarised the evidence for med rec interventions, finding that several med rec interventions reduced medication history errors and errors in patients’ admission and discharge medication regimens. -
Content ArticleAntimicrobial resistance leads to increased morbidity, mortality and healthcare costs worldwide. In order to contain antimicrobial resistance, Antibiotic Stewardship Programs (ASP) have been developed to measure and improve the appropriateness of antimicrobial use. A common way to measure the appropriateness of antimicrobial use is by evaluating whether antimicrobials are prescribed according to local guidelines and if not available, to national or international guidelines.
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Content ArticleIn this PharmaTimes article, Anna Smith discusses a survey, published by Medicspot, that has revealed that pharmacists are “worried” about the supply of medicines to the UK, after we officially left the European Union (EU) on 31 January 2020.
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VTE prevention: How can pharmacists contribute? (August 2011)
Claire Cox posted an article in Community pharmacies
Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is responsible for over 25,000 deaths a year in the UK, including 10% of hospital inpatient deaths. A House of Commons report in 2005 led to the development of guidance by the National Patient Safety Agency (NPSA), the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) and the Chief Medical Officer, for the safe use of anticoagulants and other measures to prevent VTE (deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism). VTE prevention is a patient safety priority for the National Health Service (NHS). -
Content ArticleThe Specialist Pharmacy Service (SPS) is supporting healthcare professionals with the COVID-19 Vaccination Programme in England. Read about how they are helping and the resources available.
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Content ArticleThe Extensive Care Service is part of the Fylde coast Vanguard and is designed for frail elderly patients with two or more long-term conditions who are at high-risk of an emergency admission. Working closely with patients, the service aims to assist them to improve their health and wellbeing; support them to manage their own conditions and provide effective interventions when needed in order to better manage exacerbations of their conditions. One of the key components of the care model is patient activation. The service teams’ understanding of an individual’s ability to contribute to the management of their own health and wellbeing is key to ensuring the success of this approach. The model is new, different and includes the development of a unique role - a ‘wellbeing support worker’. These individuals are a consistent feature in a model which enables a fuller understanding of a patient’s ‘activation’ ability so that engagement and support can be tailored appropriately.
