Improving patient safety and reducing medicines waste through cluster based post hospital discharge medication reconciliation

Project Background:

Since March 2020, Cluster Pharmacists at Cardiff Southwest Cluster have supported patients with medication reconciliation after hospital discharge at a cluster-based care hub. This initiative addresses shortcomings in the previous medication reconciliation process, which was prone to delays and errors due to lack of clinical training among surgery staff  and time constraints on GPs. This has allowed a rapid, safe and effective update of medications, improving the quality of care and freeing up time for primary care teams to work prudently.

Identified errors, especially in Discharge Advice Letters (DALs), highlight the need for collaboration with the University Health Board (UHB) to enhance patient safety and reduce readmissions.

The model’s uniqueness addresses care inequities, prompting efforts to expand it, gather data, and establish a robust DAL sharing system across clusters, optimizing resources and improving patient care.

Project Aims and Objectives:

Aim:

To improve the quality and safety of the transition care between secondary and primary care and monitor medicines wastage in this context.

Objectives:

1. To spread model to 2 other clusters within locality.
2. Use this spread to collect data on DALs related errors and incidents of medicines wastage.
3. Inform improvement work within the UHB to improve the reliability and safety of DALs.