Discharge Medicines Service Pathfinder

Appropriate patients, being discharged from Altnagelvin Area Hospital will
be referred at discharge, or within 24 hours of discharge to a participating
community pharmacy to receive support with medicines optimisation and
medicine reconciliation.

The pathfinder DMS is being established to ensure better communication
about a patient’s medicines on discharge. The aims are to:

• Optimise the use of medicines, whilst facilitating shared decision making
• Reduce harm from medicines at transfers of care
• Improve patients’ understanding of their medicines and how to take theM following discharge from hospital
• Reduce hospital readmissions
• Support the development of effective team-working across hospital pharmacy, community pharmacy and General Practice teams and provide clarity about respective roles
• Develop good shared communication channels across all teams involved in the service ensuring appropriate governance arrangements are in place.

Further information including service specification, presentation, and contract are available HERE.