Discharge Medicines Service (DMS) is a new service that started in February 2021. The Discharge Medicines Service (DMS) is one of several initiatives being implemented as part of the NHS 5-year plan's second year to relieve load on A&Es. According to study, patients over 65 who are discharged from hospital are less likely to be readmitted if assistance with their medication is provided. According to the conditions of the DMS service, patients who are considered to be at a high risk of medication-related harm will be electronically referred by the NHS trust to a pharmacy for assistance with their medications within 24-48 hours of being released from the hospital.
This study is important because medications are among the most frequently used interventions to improve patient health and for DMS service to strengthen and improve medicine safety, and help the deliver safer, more efficient patient care right across the NHS there is a need to involve community hospitals run by NHS trust and Private Provider. This study was carried out to highlight the need to extend DMS service to private community Health hospital providers.
AIM
The aim of this study was to investigate the medicines related risk for patient discharged from Caterham Dene Hospital (CDH) Community Hospital due to lack of funding for private community hospital provider to rollout the DMS.
METHOD
A retrospective analysis of the discharge summaries at CDH was carried out. This was to determine whether there were many changes in medication for patients discharged from acute hospital (East Surrey Hospital (ESH)) to community hospital (CDH) prior to been discharge home. Medical records of (N=183) patients who were admitted to Caterham Dene community hospital from ESH between 1st June 2021, and 31st December 2021, were identified. Of these, 22 patients who were discharged back to A&E and 2 patients whose discharge letter could not be found in their medical record or there was some missing data was excluded. A total of 159 patient's medical records and discharge summaries were analysed. It was decided that patients that were not discharged to their home would be excluded from this study as going back to A&E meant the patients discharge medicines might change again. Information describing medication-related modifications were categorised using a data collection form and analysed on Microsoft Excel.
RESULT
A total of 159 patient discharge summaries were analysed. Results show that 97% of patients whose medical records were analysed had changes in their medication after admission into a community hospital. The most frequent changes were 'medication stopped' and 'medication started'. The most common reason for these changes were either because the medication was 'no longer required' or due to a 'new diagnosis', with the top two commonly identified drug classes being laxatives and opioids. 40% of all medicines that were changed were appropriate for DMS referral on discharge.
