MDS and assisted medicines Guidance

“An Interactive Guide to What good looks like for assisted medicines taking” has produced (June 2022) by a multi sector working group within the North West.  The aim of the document is to provide best practice guidance for assessing and providing aids to support medicines taking. It is intended to help staff working within health and social care sectors who may be involved in supporting individuals to take their medicines safely.

The pdf version of the document can be found here An Interactive Guide to What good looks like for assisted medicines taking

We have included a short video below which introduces the document, how and why we did it and how to navigate the document.  We have also included some examples from a patient and Pharmacist of when medicines support has gone well.

Link to video: An Interactive Guide to What good looks like for assisted medicines taking introduction

Further guidance on the Equality Act and CPE guidance is available here : The Equality Act 2010

Briefing 060/17: Equality Act 2010 – a quick reference guide (August 2017)

New Commissioning Guidance for DOACs

Pharmacy teams may see an increased number of prescriptions for direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) following the publication of NHS Commissioning Guidance for DOACs. This guidance recommends that clinicians should, where clinically appropriate, use edoxaban (Lixiana) for the treatment of patients newly diagnosed with AF.

You may also see a greater number of patients currently on warfarin and other DOACs switched to edoxaban in the coming months. This is consistent with the updated AF guideline from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) which recommends DOACs as the preferred anticoagulant for patients with AF, unless contraindicated, not tolerated or not suitable.