The Care Inspectorate has published the final report from their medicine improvement project.
The Care Inspectorate’s vision is that every person in Scotland receives high-quality, safe and compassionate care from care services that are continually improving.
The management of medicines in care homes for older people, and its effect on resident’s health and welfare, remains a concern.
In support of this vision and with the help of Scottish Care, the Care Inspectorate undertook a project with 10 care homes, aiming to reduce medicines issues using quality improvement tools.
The care homes’ commitment to improve was reflected in their positive relationships with each other and the Care Inspectorate. All homes embraced the use of data over time to drive forward behavioural and system change, and most homes reduced defined medicines issues by a significant amount, despite the interrupted nature of the project. The interventions used to achieve this should offer a good starting point for any homes looking to improve their handling of medicines to support residents’ health and wellbeing.
Elements of the framework used in this project may also offer benefits to both the sector and us as the regulator in the post Covid-19 scrutiny landscape.
This report was prepared by Dr David Marshall Health Improvement Adviser, Care Inspectorate, who would like to offer special thanks to Scottish Care, the managers and staff of the homes involved, and the individual Care Inspectorate inspectors of the homes for their support and enthusiasm for this project.
The report is available here.
