Pharmacy teams looking to implement the new NHS Discharge Medicines Service (DMS) are able to access bespoke support and advice from KSS AHSN.
The DMS, which came into effect on February 15, sets out the shared responsibilities and roles of pharmacy teams in community pharmacy, NHS Trusts and Primary Care Networks (PCNs) in ensuring patient safety, better patient outcomes and medicines reconciliation on discharge.
It builds on the work that KSS AHSN has undertaken across the region in partnership with Local Pharmaceutical Committees (LPCs), pharmacy contractors and NHS Trusts over recent years as part of the Transfer of Care Around Medicine (TCAM) programme.
Through TCACM, KSS AHSN has worked with NHS Hospitals to put processes and IT infrastructure in place to allow hospital clinics to identify which patients might benefit from being referred to their community pharmacy at discharge.
Lisa James, Senior Programme Manager at KSS AHSN, said that 7 of the 11 hospitals across Kent, Surrey and Sussex have already implemented TCAM and a further 3 are mid implementation, placing them in a strong position to launch the DMS.
“Many community pharmacies are already receiving information on their patients medicines when discharged from hospital, which means that with TCAM already live across most of the region digital pathways are available to launch DMS,” she said.
“We know that Community pharmacists will now be following the DMS toolkit and guidance to move this to a fully commissioned service and we’re able to support them with this work, including those who have yet to implement TCAM but would like to do so quickly, as we move towards a fully commissioned DMS.”
Find out more and get support
• Find out more about KSS AHSN’s TCAM work, or email Lisa James for direct support.
