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GO Online: Inspection toolkit

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Medicines optimisation

Medicines remains one of the more common areas of unsafe practice amongst services rated inadequate or requiring improvement. Where good and outstanding rated practice exists, effective processes, training and support are key.

The following film provides a summary of this area of inspection. It can help you and your teams learn about what will be inspected and what is important to demonstrate to deliver good or outstanding care.

Introducing Medicines optimisation

Duration 01 min 57 sec

Whatever role your service has in regard to people’s medicines, it’s important that your processes and procedures are robust.

You’ll need to be clear about your staff roles and responsibilities around medicines … and ensure that people receive them as prescribed.

NICE guidelines will need to be followed and the ΢΢²ÝÊÓÆµ inspectors will want to assure themselves that your service is safely managing the ordering, transporting, storage, and disposal of medicines.

Your staff will be expected to be effectively trained and assessed as competent in how they administer and record medicines.

Regularly use opportunities such as one-to-ones to discuss medication issues and check understanding with staff.

Your staff will also need to be confident to discuss medicines with the people you support, and ensure this information and advice is clearly communicated.

Involve the people you support in how their medicines are managed. Try to encourage independence. Correct procedures will need to be followed, including when supporting people with limited capacity.

Your medication management may also need to involve external healthcare professionals.

The ΢΢²ÝÊÓÆµ inspectors will review data from your service prior to interviewing people, staff, and managers. Be prepared for the ΢΢²ÝÊÓÆµ inspector to accompany your staff and observe them administrating medication.

The inspectors may also ask to see a range of documents related to your medication management including:

  • medicine administration records
  • medicine review
  • medicine training
  • and medicine protocols.

Take a look at the recommendations, examples, and resources in our GO Online resource to help you to safely manage medicines.

Watch the film here:

Resources

The practical resources below can help you to strengthen this area of ΢΢²ÝÊÓÆµ inspection. Use the filter to choose different types of resources or select based on related prompt.

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21 resource(s) found

Medicines management resources

Resource creator: ΢΢²ÝÊÓÆµ

΢΢²ÝÊÓÆµ has produced a range of resources to support regulated adult social care services to strengthen their medication management, helping to achieve the expectations of the ΢΢²ÝÊÓÆµ. These resources include:

  • Checklist for medicines management training in adult social care - this guide and checklist has been developed to support care providers to assess their medicines management education and training to ensure that it is safe and effective.
  • Medicines competency assessment guide for adult social care settings - this guide should be used when assessing competency relating to managing and administering medicines in adult social care settings.
  • Quality assurance checklists for medicines training processes in adult social care settings - these checklists have been developed to support the quality assurance of processes related to medicines management training and competency assessment in adult social care settings
  • Checklist

Date published: February 2025


Medicines from the regulatory perspective webinar

Resource creator: ΢΢²ÝÊÓÆµ and Care Quality Commission (΢΢²ÝÊÓÆµ)

΢΢²ÝÊÓÆµ has produced a series of webinars, in partnership with ΢΢²ÝÊÓÆµ, exploring the regulations and best practice around managing medicines in care homes and domiciliary care settings.

People accessing care services often require support with their medication, and organisations have a responsibility to ensure proper and safe use of medicines, as well as requiring that staff responsible for the management and administration of medication are suitably trained and competent.

Each webinar focuses on different guidance and advice from the ΢΢²ÝÊÓÆµ on how to deliver safe and effective medication in care settings.

  • Film
  • Guide

Date published: November 2023


Resource creator: Care Quality Commission (΢΢²ÝÊÓÆµ)

The ΢΢²ÝÊÓÆµ has produced a range of medication guidance and advice aimed at residential and nursing care-related services, including:

  • controlled drugs in care homes
  • covert administration of medicines
  • delegating medicines administration
  • disposing of medicines
  • managing oxygen in care homes.
  • Guide

Date published: March 2023


Resource creator: Care Quality Commission

Good quality records underpin safe, effective, compassionate, high-quality care. They communicate the right information clearly, to the right people, when they need it. They are an essential part of achieving good outcomes for people.  The ΢΢²ÝÊÓÆµ has published some online guidance to help providers covering Electronic medicines administration records (eMAR).

  • Guide
  • Website

Date published: February 2023


Resource creator: Care Quality Commission

A provider that is registered with the ΢΢²ÝÊÓÆµ to deliver personal care may also administer a person’s medicines as part of this. This is because medicines support is considered ‘ancillary to’ the personal care they are receiving.  The ΢΢²ÝÊÓÆµ has produced online guidance to advice Supported Living Services on this matter.

  • Guide
  • Website

Date published: February 2023


Resource creator: Care Quality Commission

If you are a Shared Lives Service that is registered with the ΢΢²ÝÊÓÆµ to deliver personal care, these services may also administer a person’s medicines as part of this. This is because medicines support is considered ‘ancillary to’ the personal care they are receiving.  The ΢΢²ÝÊÓÆµ has produced online guidance for Shared Lives Services on this matter.

  • Guide
  • Website

Date published: February 2023


Resource creator: Care Quality Commission

Good record keeping protects people receiving medicines support and their care workers.  The ΢΢²ÝÊÓÆµ has published online guidance to support providers to consider what is needed to support people and ensure your records meet their expectations.

  • Guide
  • Website

Date published: November 2022


Resource creator: Care Quality Commission (΢΢²ÝÊÓÆµ)

Medicines management - assessment 'Learning from safety incidents' resources are designed to help prevent incidents from happening again. This article briefly describes  - what happened, what ΢΢²ÝÊÓÆµ and the provider have done about it, and the steps you can take to avoid it happening in your service.

  • Guide

Date published: September 2022


Resource creator: Care Quality Commission (΢΢²ÝÊÓÆµ)

Safe management of medicines - treatment 'Learning from safety incidents' resources are designed to help prevent incidents from happening again. This article briefly describes  - what happened, what ΢΢²ÝÊÓÆµ and the provider have done about it, and the steps you can take to avoid it happening in your service.

  • Guide

Date published: September 2022


Resource creator: Care Quality Commission (΢΢²ÝÊÓÆµ)

This annual report on the safer use of controlled drugs highlights ΢΢²ÝÊÓÆµ regulatory oversight activities and inspection findings in 2021.

  • Guide

Date published: July 2022


Resource creator: NHS England

This is a national project involving many different organisations which are helping to stop the over use of Psychotropic medicines for people with a learning disability, autism.  

  • Guide

Date published: December 2021


Resource creator: National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE)

NICE quality standard on the care of children, young people and adults with a learning disability and behaviour that challenges.

It includes statements and measures on:

  • initial assessment of behaviour that challenges
  • a designated coordinator for the behaviour support plan
  • personalised daily activities- review of restrictive interventions
  • the use of antipsychotic medication.

The statements are specific and concise and focus on priorities for quality improvement.

  • Guide

Date published: July 2019


Resource creator: National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE)

This is a short and visually appealing guide for care home managers and home care managers providing medicines support.

Adults shouldn’t be given medicines covertly unless they’ve been assessed as lacking the mental capacity to make decisions about their health or medicines.

If they lack capacity to make these decisions and it’s assessed as being in their best interests, they may need to be given medicines without their knowledge or consent (e.g., hidden in food or drink).

  • Guide

Date published: July 2019


Resource creator: National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE)

This is a short and visually appealing guide for home care managers providing medicines support. Adults may need support to manage their medicines safely and effectively, and for some people this’ll be provided as part of a home care service.

  • Guide

Date published: August 2018


Resource creator: National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE)

This quality standard covers assessing if people need help with their medicines and deciding what medicines support is needed to enable people to manage their medicines. It also includes communication between health and social care staff, to ensure people have the medicines support they need. It describes high-quality care in priority areas for improvement.

  • Guide

Date published: July 2018


Resource creator: National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE)

This is a short and visually appealing guide for home care managers providing medicines support, as well as listing key information from the relevant NICE guidance. It covers:

  • discussing medicines support
  • the six rights of medicines administration
  • planning and reviewing medicines support
  • medicines policy.
  • Guide

Date published: November 2017


Resource creator: National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE)

NICE guideline covering the management of medicines for adults receiving social care in the community including home care, extra care and sheltered housing, Shared Lives and supported living.

Please see:

  • S4.1 – recommendations 1.1.1, 1.1.2 & 1.11.1
  • S4.2 - recommendation 1.7.1
  • S4.3 – recommendations 1.6.2 & 1.6.3
  • S4.4 – recommendation 18.1 – 1.8.3
  • S4.5 – recommendation 1.6.4
  • S4.6 – recommendations 1.2.4, 1.8.1 – 1.8.3
  • S4.7 – recommendation 1.3.4.
  • Guide

Date published: March 2017


Resource creator: National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE)

This guideline covers safe and effective use of medicines in health and social care for people taking 1 or more medicines. It aims to ensure that medicines provide the greatest possible benefit to people by encouraging medicines reconciliation, medication review, and the use of patient decision aids.

  • Guide

Date published: March 2015


Resource creator: National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE)

This NICE Quality Standard advocates that people who live in care homes and have been assessed as lacking capacity are only administered medicine covertly if a management plan is agreed after a best interests meeting.

  • Guide

Date published: March 2015


Resource creator: National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE)

The guidelines cover good practice for managing medicines in care homes. They aim to promote the safe and effective use of medicines in care homes by advising on processes for handling and administering medicines.

These guidelines include recommendations on:

  • developing and reviewing policies for the safe and effective use of medicines
  • supporting residents to make informed decisions and recording them
  • sharing information, record-keeping and medicines reconciliation
  • safeguarding and medicine-related problems
  • reviewing, prescribing, ordering and dispensing medicines, and receiving, storing and disposing of them
  • helping residents to take their own medicines
  • care home staff administering medicines (including covert administration) and non-prescription products
  • training and competency of care home staff.
  • Guide

Date published: December 2014


Resource creator: National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE)

This guideline covers diagnosing and managing drug allergy in all age groups. It aims to make it easier for professionals to tell when someone is having an allergic reaction, by specifying the key signs and patterns to look out for. It also makes recommendations on improving people’s understanding of their drug allergies, and ensuring these are recorded properly in their medical records.

  • Guide

Date published: September 2014



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