A report by the Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI) has revealed that the medication management in care homes is seriously unacceptable. Staff with minimal, and in some cases no training, have been administering medicines to patients, the result being a plethora of errors occurring. It is therefore vital that staff are given the training necessary to eliminate risk. Kays Medical has a hugely popular ‘Care Home Medicine Administration Course’ designed to eradicate staff confusion and bring standards of administration up to national requirements.

Hazel Sommerville, Chief Pharmacist at the CSCI, highlights negligence that could potentially lead to disastrous consequences. The report shows patients in numerous cases have been provided with the wrong medication or the wrong dosage and in some cases no medicine at all. Inspectors also found that medication records were not being kept and staff didn’t have the relevant training.

Mrs Sommerville said: “There has been a reduction in the number of community pharmacists providing advice to care homes over the past few years as PCT’s and the medicines management services collaborative have replaced contracts for advice with those for medicines reviews.”

With these dangers in mind, Kays Medical has a Care Home Medicine Administration Course that creates staff awareness of potential hazards of medicines and the necessity of correct administering procedures and recording. Organisations concerned are able to make certain its patients receive the correct medicines and dosage. Importantly the course also ensures organisations and staff adhere to the guidelines set by the National Pharmaceutical Association.

Kays Medical has recently delivered this course for Shirley Rhys-Johnson, from Quality Protects Children Sheffield, who commented, “Staff were very uplifted after receiving training on the safe handling of medicines. They expressed that as well as being informative and understandable the instructor delivered with humour that made the training fun. Other training courses have been found to be tiring however the teaching style at Kays Medical enabled staff to remember more. All staff who attended stated that it was good, enjoyable, interesting and moreover, to the point.”

Kays Medical provides these courses and a variety of others nationwide with group courses run at the customer’s site throughout the year. For further information please contact Andrew Whittaker, General Manager at Kays Medical. He will be pleased to discuss your requirements.