Abstract
Objective: to investigate the benefits of a community services liaison pharmacist in addressing medication misuse in elderly patients, which occur on both admission and discharge.Design: completion of a medication history for each patient on admission by the community liaison pharmacist. On discharge updated medication record sheets were faxed to the patient's GP and community pharmacy; a survey of GPs' and community pharmacists' opinions who were involved in the study was carried out.Subjects and setting: 109 patients over the age of 60 on 4 or more medications admitted by the medical admissions unit of Antrim Area Hospital.Main outcome measures: medication related problems; GP and community pharmacist opinions of the service.Results: of the 109 patients, 61% had an incomplete medication history on admission, 21% of patients who brought their own drugs were not dealt with appropriately in hospital and 33% of discharged patients had medication‐related problems. The service was felt to be very useful by GPs (80%) and community pharmacists (100%). A reduction in readmission rate of 2.4% was seen in these patients compared to the average for this age group.Conclusion: the community services liaison pharmacist produced benefits in terms of patient medication management, reduced readmission rates and wastage of patients' own drugs. A more detailed one‐year study will now be carried out.
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Brookes, K., Scott, M. & McConnell, J. The benefits of a hospital based community services liaison pharmacist. Pharm World Sci 22, 33–38 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1008713304892
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1008713304892