Poor communication about medicines when a patient transfers from secondary to primary care is not new. It’s something hospital pharmacy, community pharmacy and GPs have all been frustrated by for a long time.

So, it is heartening to see a fairly simple intervention that not only improves communication between clinicians but will also ensure that hospital discharge is smoother and safer.

TCAMs secure and timely transfer of medicines information to a community pharmacy will allow the community pharmacist to resolve most issues easily without referral to primary care colleagues, leaving only a small number of patients with significant medicines issues requiring a referral to their GP.

We believe TCAM will make a big difference to keeping patients safe. But more than that it offers significant cost saving implications for us all, especially around medicines waste and efficiency - and this is important as we struggle to raise quality and improve productivity within current financial constraints.

Who is invited: all community pharmacists in East Sussex along with pharmacists from ESHT hospitals and pharmacists working in primary care.

Who will be speaking: senior pharmacists from ESHT, CCGs and Community Pharmacy Surrey and Sussex, along with colleagues who have piloted the pathway and Kevin Noble from PharmOutcomes

By the end of the session: Colleaguges should be:

aware of the reasons for this new way of working
understand their roles and responsibilities in the new processes, and the roles and responsibilities of others involved in the process too
feel comfortable with this new way of working and if not know where to go for help and advice.

Agenda

7.00 - 7.30pm Refreshments and arrivals

7.30 - 7.45pm Introductions and background to the project

7.45 – 8.00pm Hospital pharmacy: operational processes

8.00 – 8.15pm Community pharmacy processes and guidance

8.15 – 8.35pm PharmOutcomes (how to receive notifications, use the template, log on and helpdesk)

8.35 – 8.45pm What we learnt from the recent pilot

8.45 – 8.55pm Q and A

8.55 – 9.00pm Summary and Close

TCAM: keeping patients safe when they transfer between care providers