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Record learning outcomes

By Gary Warner, chair of PSNC's service development sub-committee

In the month that saw oral diclofenac reclassified as a POM, a new NSAID safety audit shows just how effective pharmacists are as the final check.

Making it through the day in one piece, ensuring patients get what they need as quickly as possible and avoiding mistakes. In busy community pharmacies it is easy to feel that these are our key priorities...but in a patient-centred NHS, are they really enough?

We have now seen an evaluation of the data from the PharmOutcomes NSAID safety audit, which was gathered last year. The results speak for themselves. Over just two weeks some 1,300 pharmacies found 6,475 patients who had been prescribed NSAIDs but not been co-prescribed gastro-protection. More than 2,000 patients were referred for safety checks.

Delve a little deeper and the results suggest a staggering 27.5 per cent of prescriptions for NSAIDs may not be meeting clinical guidelines, which state that patients regularly prescribed an oral NSAID or COX2 inhibitor on a long-term basis should be co-prescribed gastro-protection as well.

We must keep showing the value of the service 

Effective final check

One thing this audit shows is how effective we can be as the final safety check €“ saving the NHS, for example, £6,825 for every admission related to a gastro-intestinal bleed and saving a lot of patients significant discomfort and pain. And this, surely, is what pharmacy is all about €“ ensuring that the people we see leave us with the safest possibletreatments and the knowledge to use them properly. As the NHS comes under increasing pressure to cut costs, we must keep showing the value of that service, making sure every patient gets the most benefit from their medicines.

What can you do?

€¢ Reflect on your clinical audit: If you find that your clinical audit this year makes a positive difference to your patients' safety, as the NSAIDs one did, don't stop considering it once your audit period is over. You don't have to record things if workload is an issue, but you can keep your findings in mind and ensure patients continue to get the very best safety advice.

€¢ Review your patient safety incident reporting: As part of the 2014-15 funding settlement we agreed that incident reports would no longer be anonymous. We don't yet know when the change will happen, but why not start to think about your reporting? We can't learn from our mistakes if we don't reflect on them and share experiences so, as health professionals, we should be prioritising these reports.

€¢ Prioritise MURs and the NMS: These medicines optimisation services are an opportunity for us all to help our patients, to show the value we can deliver, and to put our professional skills to great use. Make time for them this year.

If we can manage these, we'll be delivering a great service for our patients and doing our profession proud.

€¢ psnc.org.uk/our-news/ successful-pharmacy-nsaid- audit-highlights-extent-of-patient-safety-issues