NHS commissioners in Sefton have been shortlisted for a national award after setting up an innovative programme which aims to reduce the number of people being readmitted to hospital.



The medicines management team at NHS South Sefton Clinical Commissioning Group (SSCCG) has been shortlisted for the ‘Improving Safety in Medicines Management’ category at the prestigious HSJ Patient Safety Awards 2018. This is the second national award that the team have been shortlisted for in a month after being shortlisted for the HSJ Value Awards last month.

Approximately one-fifth of hospital readmissions are related to medication and up to half of these may be preventable. In order to address this, SSCCG and the Aintree University Hospital pharmacy team set up a service to review patient medicines in their own home, once they had been discharged from hospital.

The project used a pharmacist and pharmacy technician in SSCCGs medicines management team to undertake the review and advise patients in regard to lifestyle advice, their medical condition and disease management.

The results of the programme were very promising with an initial evaluation showing that 81% of patients reported that they were more likely to take their medicines correctly, as prescribed.

The winners of the HSJ Patient Safety Awards will be announced on 9 July at a ceremony in Manchester.

Speaking about the shortlisting, Susanne Lynch, head of medicines management at NHS South Sefton CCG, said:

“This scheme was just one part of our innovative, system wide approach to medicines which has allowed us to deliver significant improvements to safety and patient care.

Dave Thornton, Assistant Clinical Director of Pharmacy at Aintree University Hospital, said:

“Being shortlisted for this award recognises the importance of the link between hospital and community care when it comes to ensuring medicines are used safely and effectively and the benefits that can be realised from a joint approach.”

The NHS South Sefton CCG website contains information about where you can find help and advice about your health. Visit http://www.southseftonccg.nhs.uk/you...-and-services/ for more information.