We examined 80 CQC inspection reports from a range of different services (rated as outstanding to inadequate from August to December 2023). This allowed us to rank the most commonly inspected areas for medication by CQC (KLOE S4) to find out: where CQC inspectors are...
With the risk that COVID-19 might affect the availability of medicines, NHS England issued new guidance for care homes allowing them to re-use medicines between residents, rather than destroy them or send them back to the pharmacy. The full guidance is here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-reuse-of-medicines-in-a-care-home-or-hospice). This guidance applies...
You may have noticed that it's difficult to obtain medicines in monitored dosage systems (MDS or 'blister packs' as they are commonly known). These are hard plastic or disposable trays containing a week's worth of medicines. It's been a few years (January 2019) since Boots first...
Gabapentin and pregabalin were reclassified as controlled drugs (CDs) back in April 2019, yet many health and social care providers still seem unsure how to treat them. Are they controlled drugs? In short, yes they are controlled drugs but no, they do not need to...
If you find this article useful, sign up for updates when new articles are published (on the left hand side or bottom of the screen for mobiles). Emollients are moisturising creams, ointments, lotions and gels applied to the skin to treat dry skin conditions such as...
Summary NICE guidelines fail to give clear advice on whether room temperatures need monitoring for medicines stored in care homes. We recommend that care homes in England should follow the same advice that applies to pharmacies in England and care homes in Scotland, namely: If it is...
In this update, I will cover which types of medication error need reporting to the CQC and safeguarding, as well as how to investigate and learn from medication errors. If you find this article useful, sign up for updates when new articles are published (on the...
Summary: Following new advice from NICE (March 2017) for community settings [1], all medicines support provided to a person should be recorded on a medicines chart. NICE may apply this to care homes with the next revision of their medicines guidelines. If you find this article...
