Press Releases

How to stop drug errors in care homes

We have long understood the challenges facing care homes in regards to medicines management and how this impacts on patient safety, quality of life, hospital admissions and cost to the NHS. It is estimated that 1 in 15 hospital admissions can be attributed to drug errors with a massive cost implication to the NHS. 70% of all care home residents experience a drug error of some description. Our own research has also highlighted the significant waste problem within the system which has further dramatic financial implications. Pharmacy Plus has created an IT solution for medicines management in care homes,(the Proactive Care System - PCS) which is the first such system of its kind in the world. It ensures the appropriate administration of each drug by prompting which patients are due their drugs and when, then delivers patient safety by preventing any incorrect administration of drugs using a unique barcode validation process.

Pharmacy Plus has developed the system to guarantee that each drug is administered to the correct resident, at the right time with right dose, this is possible through barcode scanning of the packet. Work on developing the system started "in house" in 2006 and after extensive research and development, PCS was launched in May 2010. PCS has since been awarded accolades such as The Patient Safety Award and the BUPA Foundation Award amongst others.

Several major Groups as well as many independent homes are now using PCS. Caroline Wood Operations Director/ Head of Care Services said, ”At Alpha Care Homes we are always looking at ways to improve standards in all areas of care and the rollout of the PCS system has proved very valuable to us. We trialed the PCS system at one of our 13 homes and have been so impressed with the system it has been rolled out across the whole group, as we identified the PCS system as being a user friendly tool that could support our care homes to maintain Safe Administration practices”.

We have a large stand (B80) at the show and it is an ideal opportunity for visitors to meet our staff and see how the Proactive Care System actually works and could be used in their home.

We welcome everyone to our stand, existing customers and homes we do not curently supply, so please takke a few minutes to come and see us, you will be assured of a warm welcome!

For further details please contact:
Derek Seddon, Head of Marketing at; derek.seddon@pharmacyplus.co.uk

Yours sincerely
Derek Seddon