5 Benefits of in-house medication audits

5 Benefits of regular medication audits

1. Ensuring Compliance with Outcomes 9 (Management of medicines) and 16 (Assessing and monitoring the quality of service provisions

You are required under the Health and Social Care Act 2008 to assess your service against the Essential Standards of quality and safety. In order to achieve compliance you need to demonstrate how you audit and monitor all aspects of the management of medication on an ongoing basis. Can you be certain your staff are following correct procedures as set out in your policy? Can you be certain the people you work in partnership with are receiving medication that is appropriate for them, at the prescribed time and administered by competent staff?

2. Evidence of competence

Providing basic medication administration training is not enough to guarantee safety or minimise the potential harm incorrect administration of medication can have on individuals. Can you be certain that having attended training your staff can be trusted to always follow correct procedures as set out in national standards? Would ‘trust’ be a sufficient defence if an error occurred? Auditing medication includes assessing the competency of staff administering medication on an ongoing basis.

3. Preventing and reducing errors

Checking records and individual supplies of medication is essential in identifying potential and actual errors. Incomplete or inaccurate records mean that you cannot always be certain you are doing enough to prevent errors occurring. Can you be certain your staff recognise the ‘clues’ on a MAR sheet that could prevent errors?

4. Demonstrating accountability

Auditing MAR sheets may highlight a particular member of staff not following correct procedures or that there is a problem at a particular time of day or with a specific medication. Can you be certain that there are no ‘hidden’ trends that could lead to staff unintentionally making errors?

5. Developing staff

Auditing and monitoring medication may highlight areas of weakness in practice – both on an individual and an organisational basis. Taking action to improve those areas and developing open and honest communication within the administration team will ensure you achieve compliance.

Follow the url below to see how to improve your in house audits

http://www.yourcareassociates.co.uk/site/files/Medication%20Audit%20training%20flyer%20half%20day%20on%20site-logical%20care%20version.pdf

Can you be certain you are auditing medication in sufficient depth to meet Outcome 9 and ensure the health, welfare and safety of the people whose medication you are responsible for and the staff who manage their medication on a daily basis?

"Excellent training - great investment. Thank you"

"We have noticed big improvements already. I am so glad I had all our senior carers trained"

"Our RGN's have improved their handling of medications, so have our care team. Our RGN's say they had not realised how careful you must be in a care home. Great investment. "

Our customers include charities, local authorities, individual and group homes.