Identifying key contacts

Building up a network of contacts and sources of relevant information will help pharmacy professionals to provide timely support to patients who are referred through the Discharge Medicines Service. It will also help in promoting awareness of the service among general practice and other members of the multidisciplinary team.

Contacts may include:

• Pharmacists and pharmacy technicians based in GP practices, care homes or PCNs
• Anticoagulant clinics (secondary care and community service, if different)
• Lithium clinics
• Clozapine clinics
• Depot antipsychotic clinics
• District nursing teams
• Specialist nurses or teams – heart failure nurses, COPD intervention teams, community mental health teams, community alcohol teams
• Hospital pharmacy colleagues
• Intermediate care units and intermediate care pharmacy teams
• Cardiac rehabilitation teams
• Domiciliary care agencies
• Websites for local shared care agreements, such as local area prescribing committees or medicines management pages on CCG websites
• Social services
• Patient/carer support groups
• Social prescribing link workers
• Out-of-hours providers.

Make a list of key contacts in the local area, as well as their locations and contact details, and make sure the rest of the pharmacy team know where this information is kept.