Automation can help homecare medicines service address concerns

Homecare medicines services will play a key role in the future of the NHS, however the service is about to come under intense scrutiny and a number of changes undoubtedly lie ahead. So what can the sector do to prepare itself for the changes heading their way? Centred Solutions, Head of Marketing, Shelley Dyer, takes a look.

Homecare medicines services have grown at an incredible rate over the past decade. The service is now provided to 500,000 patients with chronic conditions across the UK, with 2.85m deliveries taking place every year. This incredible growth has brought with it some challenges with providers experiencing significant capacity constraints. A number of these challenges were recently highlighted in the “Homecare Medicine Service: An Opportunity Lost” report by the House of Lords Public Services Committee.

The report states the significant potential of homecare medicine service is not being met and calls for the Government to establish and fund an independent review into the homecare system by no later than April this year. Since the report was published the Department of Health and Social care has said NHS England has been working on a “desktop exercise” to look at homecare medicines services and it would now bring together data from that exercise and recommendations from the House of Lords report to undertake an analysis of the findings. An update on steps taken and a response to the recommendations is expected in the summer.

There are some common themes already emerging which hint at the changes that lie ahead for homecare medicine service providers. And there is action the sector can take now to prepare for these changes so that they remain one step ahead. Pharmacy technology and automation exists to support providers in addressing a number of the concerns raised and it’s great to see early adopters in the sector starting to embrace this.

This technology automates the dispensing process from picking and packing to labelling and checking and also provides a robust and clear audit trail for compliance purposes. There are a number of benefits associated with using this type of technology which can help address many of the concerns raised around a homecare medicines service. Here is the top three.

Patient Safety

Patient safety incidents and delays in receiving medication are areas of concern raised in both England and Scotland for homecare medicine services. For example, a survey by Crohn’s and Colitis UK with IBD nurses and patients revealed incidents of providers sending incorrect medication, out of date drugs or incorrect dosage to patients.[1]

Technology acts as an invaluable safety net for all pharmacy settings, including homecare. The technology already being used by some providers and a number of community pharmacies, has checks and balances throughout the entire dispensing process to ensure right quantity, right drug, right patient.

Manual tasks can introduce potential for errors and inefficiency and this automation narrows those gaps by reducing the need for human interaction resulting in a more continuous, safer and traceable automated workflow. It provides drug data integrity and validation by comparing a multitude of inventory management codes against the drug item code. Barcode and RFID technology not only ensures the right medication is prepared for the right patient, but it also provides a warning which halts the dispensing process if the drug type and dose don’t match what has been prescribed for a patient. Many hospital homecare medications are cold lines that require minimum time outside of the refrigerated environment. The speed of the automation ensures they are picked, labelled and sorted quickly to reduce time medications are exposed to higher temperatures.

Audit Trail

NHS England is currently reviewing the data collected around homecare medicines service after the House of Lords raised concerns about a lack of visibility. Going forward data collection could include a greater focus on patient experience and for a lead regulator to be identified for the sector who can act if a provider is underperforming.

Governance and compliance are likely to come under further scrutiny from homecare medicines service providers as we move forward. The good news is that there is automation and technology available which will help you get your house in order now. This technology provides a full end to end audit trail right down to patient and pack level from receipt to storage through to dispensing.  With multiple verification checks, it posts alerts for expired medications, provides lot number tracking, manages inventory effectively as well as recording critical drug information such as EAN and GTIN codes. All this information can be shared back to the NHS to meet all their compliance requirements. Should it be required in the future it also supports compliance with EU FMD regulations requiring the capture of pack serialisation.  

Interoperability

A lack of interoperability and a reliance on paper based systems create a real challenge to streamlined and efficient homecare services. Prescriptions for homecare providers are generally sent by post. But this should not be a barrier to adopting technology. Early adopters are already using technology to automate their dispensing process despite the lack of an electronic prescription service. This is because the software is agnostic and can interface with a range of bespoke platforms be they manual or automated. Experts are available to help develop bespoke solutions for providers.

Because the software is agnostic it will support integration with any electronic prescription service once that becomes available. It makes sense for providers to automate the elements they can now while waiting for the rest of the NHS to catch up.

You can discover more about how pharmacy automation can help homecare medicines service providers in our latest white paper: “How Pharmacy Automation Helps Address Concerns Raised Around Homecare Medicine Service.” 

[1] https://crohnsandcolitis.org.uk/media/jzvndmxv/ccuk_-pcs-homecare-inquiry-written-submission.pdf