Professional standard
The NHS England Immigration Removal Centres Medicine Improvement Programme Working Group, with the Health and Justice Sector have reviewed the RPS Hospital Standards, alongside recommendations in the Shaw Review, and developed new professional standards for optimising medicines for people in secure environments, including immigration removal centres, prisons and other places of residential detention.
The standards support the commissioning and development of safe, quality services that put patients and their needs first.
The Royal Pharmaceutical Society are hosting and have published the standards. They can be used by anyone
who has a role in optimising and handling medicines (for example pharmacy
teams, nursing teams, etc) working in or with the secure environment sector in
England, but may also be a useful reference in Wales and Scotland.
The standards have been published in the following two editions:
They encourage a multidisciplinary approach between the pharmacy, healthcare and custodial workforce that ensures medicines optimisation is “everybody’s business”. In health and justice settings, medicines optimisation is often led by the pharmacy team, but medicines are prescribed and handled by a variety of professional and support staff.
Correction on 17/05/17
Correction to statement 11.4 in the Professional standards for optimising medicines for people in secure environments edition 1 Immigration removal centres and edition 2 prisons, young offender institutions and secure training centres.
Statement 11.4 in both editions has been corrected to “People have in possession medicines supplied to them by a competent member of healthcare or pharmacy staff who has access to a registered healthcare professional within the site at the time the supply is made.”
Please contact our professional support service if you would like to discuss the correction further.