scholarly journals P27 Impact of having a paediatric medicines management pharmacy technician in a district general hospital

2020 ◽  
Vol 105 (9) ◽  
pp. e20.1-e20
Author(s):  
Rebecca Le Maistre
Keyword(s):  
Hospital Admission ◽  
General Hospital ◽  
District General Hospital ◽  
Medicines Management ◽  
Acute Setting ◽  
Pharmacy Technician ◽  
Paediatric Patients ◽  
Medicines Reconciliation ◽  
Medicines Optimisation ◽  
Paediatric Medicines

AimPatients are more likely to experience a ‘medicines-related safety incident’ when medicines reconciliation happens more than 24 hours after admission to an acute setting,1 according to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). The study aimed to assess the impact on medicine reconciliations following the introduction of a dedicated Paediatric Medicines Management Pharmacy Technician to the paediatric wards at a District General Hospital (DGH).MethodsData has been routinely collected by the pharmacy department over of a number of years showing the time of medicines reconciliations compared with the time of hospital admission. This data shows the number of medicine reconciliations that were completed within 24 hours of hospital admission and the number that were not completed within 24 hours. The data is routinely collected on the Thursday of the first full week of every month. All patients that were admitted to the paediatric wards were included in this data. The service is only funded Monday to Friday through the Child Health Department of the DGH. This data excludes neonates admitted to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. Data was collected from 83 paediatric patients in March/April/May 2017 and 78 paediatric patients in March/April/May 2019.ResultsData collected for the paediatric patients over March/April/May 2017 showed that around 21.7% of all paediatric patients admitted to the wards had a completed medicines reconciliation within 24 hours. The data collected over the same period in 2019 showed that 85% paediatric patients admitted to the wards had a completed medicines reconciliation within 24 hours.ConclusionThis study was useful in demonstrating the effectiveness of introducing a dedicated Paediatric Medicine Management Pharmacy Technician to the paediatric wards in a DGH. It showed that the proportion of medicine reconciliations within 24 hours prior to the change was very low, but after the change it was very high with nearly all patients having a completed medicines reconciliation within 24 hours. Prior to the introduction of a dedicated Paediatric Medicines Management Pharmacy Technician, the paediatric wards at this DGH were not meeting the standards set by NICE regarding medicines reconciliations within 24 hours of being admitted to an acute setting. After the introduction the paediatric wards were meeting these standards. By meeting NICE guideline QS120 Medicines Optimisation, the DGH has reduced the likelihood of medicines-related safety incidents. With the introduction of a dedicated Paediatric Medicines Management Pharmacy Technician there have been many other benefits. These include counselling to parents/children on the use of their medicines; checking of patients’ own medicines to see if they are still fit for purpose; advice to parents about unlicensed medicines and why they are used; where to obtain further supplies when new medicines have been started; and assisting parents and GP surgeries with any supply issues.ReferenceNational Institute for Health and Care Excellence. Medicines Optimisation (internet). (London):NICE; March 2016.(Quality Standard [QS120]). Available from www.nice.org.uk/guidance/qs120//chapter/Quality-statement-4-Medicines-reconciliation-in-acute-settings

Please reconcile, not wait a while

2019 ◽  
Vol 105 (2) ◽  
pp. 122-126
Author(s):  
Ashifa Trivedi ◽  
Sadhna Sharma ◽  
Richa Ajitsaria ◽  
Nicola J Davey
Keyword(s):  
Quality Improvement ◽  
District General Hospital ◽  
Quality Improvement Project ◽  
Improvement Project ◽  
Acute Setting ◽  
Paediatric Department ◽  
Medicines Reconciliation ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Patient Safety Incidents ◽  
Main Factor

A quality improvement project to increase the rate of paediatric medicines reconciliation was carried out in a district general hospital between April and July 2018. Baseline data collected from our paediatric ward shows that medicines reconciliation by doctors is only accurately completed 50% of the time. Evidence shows that medicines-related patient safety incidents are more likely when medicines reconciliation happens more than 24 hours after a person is admitted to an acute setting. The aim of this quality improvement project was therefore to ensure that 100% of paediatric patients have their regular medications prescribed by mid-day the day after admission. The paediatric pharmacy team reviewed all paediatric inpatient drug charts from Monday to Friday for 12 weeks. The number of regular medications and the number of medicines reconciled was recorded each day. The effectiveness of various interventions were reviewed using Plan–Do–Study–Act cycles. On average, 40 patients were reviewed each week. The mean reconciliation rate was 79%, and the worst rate was 0%. 100% reconciliation was achieved on 34 occasions and was achieved continuously for the last 3 weeks of data collection. A repeat audit carried out in September 2018 found the reconciliation rate was maintained at 100%. Multiple interventions occurred during this quality improvement project: teaching sessions for doctors, posters to raise awareness and questionnaires for parents/children to complete about their regular medications. The main factor for success in this project has been involving all members of the paediatric department including children and their parents.

Patient Preferences for Single Rooms or Shared Accommodation in a District General Hospital

2009 ◽  
Vol 54 (2) ◽  
pp. 5-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
L Florey ◽  
R Flynn ◽  
C Isles
Keyword(s):  
Older People ◽  
Hospital Admission ◽  
General Hospital ◽  
Patient Preferences ◽  
District General Hospital ◽  
Surgical Patients ◽  
Single Room ◽  
Future Hospital

Objectives To determine whether patients who have used a Scottish district general hospital would prefer single or shared accommodation on a future admission. Methods We surveyed 80 in-patients in January 2008 in order to obtain 20 medical and 20 surgical patients in single rooms and the same number in shared accommodation. Each patient received a seven point questionnaire that had been validated in another centre. Results Forty four men and 36 women, median 64 years, who had been in hospital for a median of 4.5 days (range 1 to 53 days) participated in the survey. Seventy per cent of patients in shared and 40% of patients in single rooms said they would prefer shared accommodation during a future hospital admission. Those expressing a preference for shared accommodation were older (median age 68 versus 58 years) and had been in hospital for longer (median 5.5 versus 3.5 days) than those who said they would prefer a single room. Conclusions It is likely that the desire for company among older people who have to spend a week or more in hospital is driving the responses we obtained. Our findings do not support claims that the argument in favour of 100% single rooms is ‘overwhelming’.

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