Medication

What is medicine management? Why is it important? What regulations are currently in place?
What is the importance of auditing?
The importance of competent administrators, what makes somebody competent?
How could the process be improved?
Medicine management can be described as an evidence-based approach to prescribing which balances the safety, tolerability, effectiveness cost and simplicity of treatments. It is believed that Good medicine management means that patients receive better, safer and more convenient care. (NHS 2015)
Medicine management was first established in 2002 and involved clinical assessments for patients, monitoring and reviewing individuals medications, the delivery services used to dispense medications, looking at the systems used for repeat prescribing, the clinical auditing used, risk management and guidelines in place.
The NICE guidelines are in place to set regulations for care homes with regards to medicine management,
The NICE guidelines set out the following overview for managing medicines
  * Simple steps to managing medicines in care homes
  * Develop a medicine policy
  * Record keeping and sharing information
  * Medicines reconciliation
  * Supporting residents to make informed decisions
  * Prescribing for residents
  * Medication review
  * Ordering, receiving, dispensing and supplying medicines.
  * Help residents to take their medications themselves
  * Care home staff administering medicines, training and information for care home staff.
Care providers are responsible to handle medications in the safest way possible, and to apply the highest standards of safety to medication management, care homes are required to demonstrate that the standards of care as advised by the Care Quality Commission (outcome 9, regulation 13) are met.
Care homes are expected to ensure that medicines are received, handled, stored, administered, disposed of and recorded in accordance with statutory and regulatory...