First-rate care, First-rate people, First-rate value

Discharge Medicines Service - Information for patients and carers

  1. Home
  2. What we do
  3. Inpatient Intermediate Care Ward at Caterham Dene Hospital
  4. Discharge Medicines Service - Information for patients and carers

Discharge Medicines Service (DMS)

The DMS is an essential service providing support to patients recently discharged between care settings, ensuring that changes to medicines are followed up in the community.

The service aims to:

  • Reduce the risk of medication errors and adverse drug events
  • Improve patients’ understanding of their medicines and how to take them
  • Increase patient involvement in their own care
  • Reduce medicines wastage
  • Avoid medicines-related admissions to hospital.

Criteria for referral

  • Aged 65 and over
  • Patient needing or using compliance aids e.g blister pack
  • Patient taking more than five regular long-term medicines
  • Newly started medicines
  • Patient taking high risk medicines.

This is not an exhaustive list; the pharmacy team will assess your discharge prescription to confirm if you would benefit from this service.

Referral process

  • Patients are digitally referred to a community pharmacy of their choice after discharge
  • The hospital pharmacy team will ask for your consent and your chosen pharmacy to send a referral to
  • Using the information in the referral, the community pharmacy team will compare your medicines at discharge to those you were taking before admission to hospital.

During your stay in hospital please ask about your medicines

During your stay in hospital there may be changes made to your medication depending on your condition when the doctors see you.

If you or your carers have any questions about why medications have been stopped or started, please ask.

The pharmacist can answer your questions about your medicines, such as any side-effects you may experience, and can discuss any concerns you might have with your doctors or nurses.

Your medicines when you are discharged from hospital

The clinical team will review when you are fit for discharge from hospital, and they will make sure everything is in place to ensure it is safe for you to go home.

To ensure you receive the correct medication when you leave hospital, the doctors will review this according to your condition. They will then write a discharge prescription, with a list of medication and it may also include information on your condition for your GP.

The pharmacist will review this list of medication to ensure everything is prescribed appropriately, and the pharmacy team will then ensure you have the correct medication to take with you.

When you are discharged from hospital, the pharmacy will ensure that you have at least fourteen days supply of all your medication, allowing you sufficient time to visit your GP for further supplies if necessary.

Service contact information

Medicines Management Team
First Community Health and Care
Caterham Dene Hospital
Church Road
Caterham
Surrey
CR3 5RA

Email: fchc.pharmacyreferrals@nhs.net

To respond to your query, we will need:

  • Your contact details – full name, contact address, telephone number and email address
  • A list of the medication you use and who prescribed it to you.

If you need advice, support, or information, we are here to help.

 

First Community provides front-line NHS community healthcare services in east Surrey and parts of West Sussex.

We provide first-rate care, through our first-rate people, offering first-rate value. For more information visit: www.firstcommunityhealthcare.co.uk

If you would like this information in another format, for example large print or easy read, or if you need help communicating with us:

First Community (Head Office)

Call: 01737 775450 Email: fchc.enquiries@nhs.net / fchc.respiratory@nhs.net Text: 07814 639034

Address: First Community Health and Care, Orchard House, Unit 8a, Orchard Business Centre, Bonehurst Road, Redhill RH1 5EL

 

To print this page, please select accessibility tools and the print this page icon. 

For office use only: Version 1 PFD_PSQ002 Publication date: March 2022