19/11/2012 - RPS talks about pharmaceutical care in care homes at the Scottish Parliament

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 The RPS was invited by the Scottish Parliament’s Cross-Party Group on Age and Older People to talk about our recent report, ‘Improving Pharmaceutical Care in Care Homes’. This report was published in March 2012.  The report calls for an embedded role for pharmacists providing pharmaceutical care to every care home, better joined up working between different health professionals, an integrated and aligned model of care and better clinical information sharing between GPs, community pharmacies and hospitals to improve safety for care home residents. The report also calls for greater use pharmacists skills in the regular reviews of medicines leading to reductions in polypharmacy and the use of psychoactive medicines.

Annamarie McGregor, Professional Support Pharmacist for the RPS in Scotland, led the discussion with a presentation on the report itself. She was joined by Noreen Downes, Lead Pharmacist Prescribing Development who set out how NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (GGC) and other West of Scotland NHS Boards have responded to the RPS’ report. Jenny Stirton, Lead Pharmacist Rehabilitation and Assessment NHS GGC represented the Specialist Pharmacists Care of Older People Group and provided an overview of how pharmacist services support older people in the hospital setting and highlighting that services are under resourced. Presentations are available for members to view.

Annamarie said, “Today’s meeting was very positive and I’d like to thank Sandra White MSP, the cross party group convenor, for inviting us.  I’d also like to thank Age Scotland for helping organise the event. 
 
“Showing MSPs, colleagues from other health professions and patients’ groups what pharmacists can do was a great opportunity.  It was great to show what progress has already been made since the report came out.  Above all, this meeting allowed us to engage with other groups that represent and care for older people about what next steps can be taken. We have been invited back to provide an update in summer 2013, which is a very good result.
 
“I was grateful to Norren Downes and Jenny Stirton for taking the time to come to the Parliament today and for making such strong presentations about their work. Pharmacists are playing an important role in looking after frail elderly people in all settings and we are keen to ensure that this is recognised and supported by the Parliament.”