Quality standard

Quality statement 4: Managing medicines-related problems

Quality statement 4: Managing medicines-related problems

Quality statement

Adults receiving medicines support in the community from a social care provider are given information on how to raise any medicines-related problems.

Rationale

People receiving medicines support, and their families or carers, need to be able to raise any concerns about their medicines and the support needed to take them. This can help people to have their concerns addressed, improve management of medicines and may prevent medicines-related incidents. It can also help services to learn from and prevent further medicines-related problems.

Quality measures

Structure

a) Evidence of local processes for service providers to actively encourage adults receiving medicines support in the community to raise any medicines-related problems.

Data source: Local data collection, for example documented procedures for identifying, reporting, reviewing and learning from medicines-related problems.

b) Evidence that care workers providing medicines support for adults receiving social care in the community give them information on how to raise any problems with their medicines.

Data source: Local data collection, for example an audit of care plans of adults receiving social care in the community that includes medicines support.

Process

Proportion of adults receiving medicines support in the community from a social care provider who are given information on how to raise any medicines-related problems.

Numerator – the number in the denominator who are given information on how to raise any medicines-related problems.

Denominator – the number of adults receiving medicines support in the community from a social care provider.

Data source: Local data collection, for example an audit of service user records or service user surveys of adults receiving medicines support in the community from a social care provider.

Outcome

a) People's satisfaction with being able to raise medicines-related problems.

Data source: Local data collection, for example service user and carer satisfaction surveys.

b) Number of medicines-related problems raised by adults receiving social care in the community.

Data source: Local data collection, for example service user records.

c) Number of medicines-related incidents involving adults receiving social care in the community.

Data source: Local data collection, for example an audit of medicines-related incidents involving adults receiving medicines support in the community from a social care provider.

What the quality statement means for different audiences

Service providers (social care providers) should have robust processes for identifying, reporting, reviewing and learning from medicines-related problems. These processes should actively encourage people receiving medicines support from a social care provider to raise their concerns. Staff providing medicines support should be given information on how to raise medicines-related problems and trained to understand processes for managing medicine-related problems.

Health and social care practitioners (such as care workers) providing medicines support follow their organisation's processes for identifying, reporting, reviewing and learning from medicines-related problems. They provide information to service users on how to raise medicines-related problems.

Commissioners (local authorities and clinical commissioning groups) ensure that they commission services that follow robust processes for identifying, reporting, reviewing and learning from medicines-related problems, and that information is provided to staff and service users on how to raise medicines-related problems.

Adults receiving social care at home that includes help with their medicines (and their family members or carers if appropriate) are given information and advice on how to raise any problems they have with their medicines or the support they have to take their medicines.

Definitions of terms used in this quality statement

Medicines

All prescription and non-prescription (over-the-counter) healthcare treatments, such as oral medicines, topical medicines, inhaled products, injections, wound care products, appliances and vaccines.

[NICE's guideline on managing medicines for adults receiving social care in the community]

Medicines-related problems

Medicines-related problems include:

  • potentially avoidable medicines-related hospital admissions

  • prescribing errors

  • dispensing errors

  • administration errors (for example, missed or delayed doses, inappropriate or incorrect administration)

  • monitoring errors (for example, inadequate review or follow-up, incomplete or inaccurate documentation)

  • adverse events, incident reporting and significant events

  • near misses (a prevented medicines-related patient safety incident which could have led to patient harm)

  • deliberate withholding of medicines or deliberate attempt to harm

  • restraint or covert administration that has been used inappropriately

  • misuse, such as missing or diverted medicines

  • other unintended or unexpected incidents that were specifically related to medicines use, which could have, or did, lead to harm (including death).

[NICE's guideline on managing medicines for adults receiving social care in the community, recommendation 1.6.2]

Social care provider

A provider organisation, registered with the Care Quality Commission to provide community adult care services, that directly employs care workers to provide personal care and support in a person's home.

[NICE's guideline on managing medicines for adults receiving social care in the community]