Care Homes – The Next Steps

Caring for patients with co-morbidities and taking multiple medicines (polypharmacy) is a challenge globally. The Northumbria pharmacy service has been testing and delivering medication reviews in care homes since 2012, moving to an integrated model of working across health and social care systems to help manage people with complex health needs.

For professionals interested in supporting frail older people within a person-centred approach, this session will describe a care home model provided by an integrated pharmacy team, working collaboratively across primary and secondary care and using a multidisciplinary approach to enable residents to get maximal benefit from their medicines. It will demonstrate innovative methods of conducting medicines reviews at transitions of care rather than a traditional home-by-home basis, stratification of residents according to their need for medicines support, how to utilise the skill mix of pharmacists and technicians and incorporate community pharmacists into a review model.

Advanced framework:

4.1 Implementing National Priorities

4.2 Resource Utilisation

4.9 Working across Boundaries

5.4 Professional Development