Clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) have been urged to think more about how patients are supported to use medicine and less about cost and volume of drugs.
NHS England has launched the Medicines Optimisation Prototype Dashboard which brings together data on hospital admission, patient experience, medication safety and utilisation of community pharmacy services.
Clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) have been urged to think more about how patients are supported to use medicine and less about cost and volume of drugs.
NHS England has launched the Medicines Optimisation Prototype Dashboard which brings together data on hospital admission, patient experience, medication safety and utilisation of community pharmacy services.
About 50% of medicines are not taken as intended and between five and eight per cent of all unplanned hospital admissions are due to medication issues. This figure rises to 17% in the over 65s age group, NHS England claims.
And medicines waste is a significant issue – £300 million in primary care alone, about half of which is avoidable.
CCGs and trusts should work together to agree how to use this dashboard locally, NHS England said.
Local Professional Networks and Academic Health Science Networks should also use this data in their collaboration with patients, CCGs, Trusts and the pharmaceutical industry to support local improvement.
Clare Howard, deputy chief pharmaceutical officer for NHS England, said: “Medicines optimisation is about ensuring that the right patients get the right choice of medicine, at the right time. It is important for the patient, the prescriber, the NHS and the taxpayer that the patient derives the greatest benefit that medicines have to offer.”
More information is available on the NHS England website.
