Communicating

• Query any issues with the most appropriate person

Check any unexplained discrepancies in medicines on discharge and discuss any other relevant issues, usually with the hospital/NHS Trust pharmacy team using the contact details on the discharge referral.

Any changes suggested as a result of the discussion with the hospital/NHS Trust pharmacy team will need to be communicated to the patient and the prescriber – this could be the patient’s GP, GP/PCN pharmacist, advanced nurse practitioner/nurse prescriber or community specialist team. This will ensure that the practice clinical system or summary care record is kept up to date. It may be useful to agree a template for communicating any changes between the pharmacy and the general practice.

Discuss any problems with the first post-discharge prescription with the prescriber and then make sure that the records that are kept in relation to the service, such as in the patient’s PMR, adequately reflect actions taken and any information that needs to be communicated to other pharmacy staff, such as locums.

• Discuss the medicines with the patient

Communication with the patient will be discussed in a later module in this series.

• Offer to refer the patient to other services if required

Refer the patient to an appropriate service if further support is needed – for example, for a structured medication review. With the patient’s consent, relevant information to support ongoing care can be shared with the patient’s GP practice/PCN pharmacist to facilitate this.

In addition, offer to provide other community pharmacy services to the patient, where appropriate, to support their continued care, such as the New Medicine Service (NMS).