The Royal Pharmaceutical Society has launched new interim professional standards for pharmacy services for virtual wards to ensure the delivery of high-quality care and optimal outcomes for individuals in the ‘hospital at home’ setting.
With the rapid growth of virtual wards, it’s vital to ensure the needs of patients across the UK are met by safe and effective pharmacy services. These newly unveiled standards serve as a practical framework to assure and enhance established hospital-at-home pharmacy services, support the NHS recovery and drive community and urgent and emergency care reforms.
RPS Head of Professional Standards Wing Tang said:
“This framework is designed to be useful to any healthcare professional working to provide Hospital at Home pharmacy services. It can help to assure and enhance the quality of established Hospital at Home pharmacy services and also to help set up new services.
“The standards define what constitutes good in working practices and can be used to assess and measure pharmacy services. Providers can also use them to evaluate themselves and identify areas for improvement.”
The standards should be used alongside other hospital-at-home guidance, relevant standards, local resources, and standard operating procedures.
The Interim Professional Standards for Hospital at Home, including Virtual Ward, Pharmacy Services encompasses the following key areas:
1. Putting people first
2. Episode of care
3. Integrated transfer of care
4. Medicine and pharmacy services governance
5. Safe and efficient supply of medicines
6. Leadership
7. Systems of work
8. Workforce
Professor Claire Anderson, President of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, commented:
"These standards represent a significant step towards ensuring that patients receive the best care in the comfort of their homes where this is possible. By following these guidelines, we can elevate the quality of care and create positive health outcomes for patients."
Read more on the Interim Professional Standards for Hospital at Home, including Virtual Ward, Pharmacy Services.
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