Transcript Barriers to lithium monitoring in community psychiatric patients

USING MEDICINES SAFELY
how carers can help
Medicines can:
• help many people with physical and
mental health problems to cope better with
the symptoms of their illness
• have side effects
• cause problems if they are started or
stopped suddenly or taken in some
combinations
We can all play a part in making sure
that medicines are used safely
Every day, two and a half million
medicines are prescribed for
patients in hospitals and the
community.
• Most medicines are prescribed
and administered/taken safely
but sometimes mistakes
happen that can lead to harm
to patients.
• We can all help to reduce the
risk of thing going wrong.
•Mistakes with medicines are very common
•Although most do not cause harm, a small number do
•
The point at which a patient
comes into hospital is known to
be a time when mistakes
involving medicines are more
likely
•
This can be because the patient
does not bring their medicines
with them or the doctor does not
know about medicines that are
being prescribed by another
doctor
•
NICE and the NPSA have joined
together to try to help with this
problem
•
We all need to work together to
make this happen
A service user’s perspective
• There is a culture of sharing medications, so people may be
taking something that was prescribed, but not for them.
• Service users may only tell their psychiatrist what they think they
want to hear; that is about medicines related to that speciality.
Medication for physical health problems may not be mentioned. Oral
contraceptives may be missed.
• Also, herbal medicines, or medicines such as
ibuprofen that can be bought without a prescription
may not to be mentioned.
• Mental health service users may be reluctant to tell
a clinician that they have reduced or stopped taking
their prescribed medication because they think
they will be told off.
The Prescribing Observatory for
Mental Health has looked at what
happens when patients with mental
illness come into hospital
• For 3 patients out of 10, there was not
enough information available about
medicines that were being taken before
admission.
• For 2 patients out of 10, when this
information was available, it led to the
hospital prescription being changed
What sort of problems were found?
Important medicines used for physical health problems had
been missed
• heparin used to treat blood clots in the legs and
lungs
• inhalers used to treat asthma and other breathing
problems
• tablets used to treat diabetes
Out of date doses were prescribed
• lithium
• antipsychotic medicines
• antidepressant medicines
Patients may be too unwell to make sure the doctor knows all of the
medicine that they have been taking or should be taking.
How can patients and carers help?
• Bring all medicine the patient is taking or should be taking into
hospital for the doctor to see. This includes:
▪Medicines prescribed by the GP
▪Medicines prescribed by another hospital doctor
▪Medicines that the patient has bought without a prescription
▪Herbal, natural or alternative remedies