The pharmacy discharge counselling project was one of the projects voted for by staff to receive some of the £1m innovation and transformation fund pledged by the Charity last year.

We’re delighted to tell you that this project is now up and running at Ealing, Northwick Park and St. Mark’s Hospitals and proving to be a real benefit to patients.

Gemini Patel, Senior Specialist Pharmacist, admissions and Panagiotis Nikolaidis, Senior Pharmacy Technician lead the project and tell us more about it.

“We dispense a lot of medication for patients going home, and particularly for those who will be taking more than four or five medications.

“Although instructions are printed on the medication about how and when to take them, it can be quite overwhelming and we’re never sure if patients really do understand the instructions and if they are taking them correctly.

“These patients are identified on the wards, and the project team contacts them within 48 to 72 hours after they go home. We check if they need further advice about their medication and that they understand how and when to take them to help with their recovery.

“Since the project launched in August last year, over 700 patients have been reviewed, 280 patients have been contacted and 40% of them have needed some form of intervention. It might be that they are not taking the right dose of medication, or a different medication would have been better for them.

“This pilot project will run for a year but we’re hoping to extend the service to all three hospital sites for a further six months.

“We’re delighted that it’s going so well and making a real difference to our patients. Feedback from them has been overwhelmingly positive and they feel cared for even after they have left hospital.”