Area Team Release details of Multidisciplinary Audit to be done by end of March.

Please be aware that the area team have now released details of the multidisciplinary audit that they expect to be done by the 31st March 2014.  

A letter will be arriving in the post shortly however details are also available on pharmoutcomes.  Contracts need run the audit in March however data can be entered by 30th April 2014.

For your convenience a copy of the pharmoutcomes message is included below.

Should you have any further queries please get in touch with the area team direct.

Don't forget that your other Contract monitoring documentation  and Information Governance assurance need to be in by 31st March 2014.

Details of what needs to be sent in and who to send them to can be found here.

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PHARMOUTCOMES MESSAGE TO CONTRACTORS


Dear Pharmacist
 
Area Team determined pharmacy audit 2013/14
 
I am writing to you in relation to the pharmacy audit required for the contractual year 2013/14. As you will be aware Schedule 4 of the NHS (Pharmaceutical and Local Pharmaceutical Services) Regulations 2013 sets out the Terms of Service of NHS pharmacists in four parts.  Part 4, Clinical Governance, includes the need forpharmacists and their staff to participate in at least one Pharmacy determined and one Area Team determined audit each year.
 For the 2013/14 audit, the Area Team, following consultation with the Local Liaison Group of LPC representatives, require all pharmacies to audit non-Steroidal Anti Inflammatory Drugs (nSAIDs), which are widely prescribed for inflammation. 
 The audit, developed by the NHS East & South East England Specialist Pharmacy Services (SPS) looks at gastrointestinal safety.  NICE guidance requires all patients prescribed nSAIDs for osteoarthritis or rheumatoid arthritis (no age limit) or for low back pain (if aged over 45) to be co-prescribed gastro-protection (e.g. a proton pump inhibitor).  Any patient prescribed prolonged treatment with an nSAID is classed as ‘high risk’ for gastrointestinal bleeding. The risk is particularly high for elderly patients.
 
The expected audit outcome is patients at risk of gastrointestinal bleeding are identified and referred to their GP, in order that they are either co-prescribed GI protection using a proton pump inhibitor or their nSAID is reviewed and stopped. This would reduce unnecessary hospital admissions caused by an adverse drug reaction.
 
Full details of the audit can be found on PSNC website:  http://psnc.org.uk/contract-it/essential-service-clinical-governance/nsaid-clinical-audit/ which contains links to the SPS website, this information has also been added to PharmOutcomes.
  Undertaking the Audit
 
1.            Log into PharmOutcomes select Services; you should see NSAID Safety Audit under the National Audits heading.
 
2.            If you have mislaid your PharmOutcomes login details, visit the Help page.
 
3.            The audit involves gathering the following information over a 5 to 10 day period, from a minimum of 10 patients prescribed NSAIDs, and entering it on Pharmoutcomes®, which would then be used by the Area Team to analyse the results of the audit across the region:

• date
• patient details: name, dob., postcode, GP practice
• NSAID prescribed selected from a drop down list
• Total daily dose of NSAID in mg
• Whether the NSAID has been prescribed for more than 2 months
• If it is used regularly (i.e. at least 3 days per week)
• Whether gastro-protection is co-prescribed in line with NICE guidance, and if so which one
• Whether the patient was referred to the GP because of potential adverse GI effects
• Any notes or advice offered is also to be recorded, together with an explanation if none was

 
The audit tool developed by SPS can be found at:http://www.medicinesresources.nhs.uk/en/Communities/NHS/SPS-E-and-SE-England/Meds-use-and-safety/Patient-safety/Learning-safety-solutions/NSAIDs/Community-pharmacy-NSAID-audit-on-gastro-intestinal-safety-Vs1/
 
Please note that if you have already completed the nSAID audit as your pharmacy led audit, you will need to repeat this for your Area Team-determined audit, which will avoid having to find a different audit to do for your pharmacy-led audit at this late stage.
 
Timescale for completion
 
The completed audit should be undertaken during March and uploaded onto PharmOutcomes at the latest byWednesday 30th April 2014.
 
If you have any queries relating to the audit, please do not hesitate to contact Mrs Glyn Bosson by telephone: 01539 797861 or by email:  [email protected].
 
Yours sincerely
 
 
 Ken Youngman
Primary Care Commissioning Manager