PrescQIPP

Targeting Care Home Medicines Waste Prevention Through Innovation (2025)

Viaduct Care CIC 

Project summary

Viaduct Care CIC Stockport Integrated Pharmacy Service (SIPS) service is a dedicated team supporting six Primary Care Networks (PCNs) across 32 GP practices serving 57 permanent resident care homes with over 2000 beds in Stockport.

Nationally, medicines waste in care homes due to unused medications has been estimated to cost £50 million annually. To address this issue locally, a Quality Innovation Productivity and Prevention (QIPP) project was launched in April 2024. Optum Enterprise Search and Report (ES&R) technology was utilised to improve efficiency, work smarter and help streamline auditing processes.

Led by Senior Pharmacy Technicians the initiative initially aimed to reduce medicines waste by £40,000 annually but exceeded expectations, achieving over £260,000 in annualised savings.

Three main customised ES&R searches focused on patients coded as ‘living in a residential/nursing/care home’ were created identifying:

Prescription items over £100 (later lowered to over £75) 
Prescription quantities of 30’s & 60’s
Prescription items unordered for over 3 months.

Pharmacy Technicians and Medicines Coordinators audited the results, engaging directly with care homes where required to optimise prescriptions. Adjustments included:

Discontinuing medications no longer required. 
Aligning quantities to 28-day cycles.
Switching to cost-effective formulations or branded generics.
Reducing excessive prescribing.

Additionally, Senior Pharmacy Technicians conducted in-depth cost-saving audits, analysing individual care home patients GP medication records. A key focus was ‘when required’ (PRN) medications, ensuring prescriptions aligned with actual patient needs. Throughout the process, general housekeeping measures were undertaken, such as:

Clarifying prescription directions and optimising dosages. 
Checking paracetamol dosing in accordance with the latest patient weight records (obtained from care home records).

Face-to-face visits are provided on an as-needed basis to address any immediate issues that may arise.