The recent Medication Errors Report commissioned by The Department of Health and Social Care estimates that 237 million medication errors occur every year.

This is an alarming statistic, but what does it mean for care homes?

Six care home studies were included in the report which measured errors in prescribing, monitoring, dispensing and administration. Within care homes, 92.8% of errors occurred in administering medication. These errors can cause both carers and family to feel concerned about the safety of patients. Errors can lead to patient harm, complications to long-term health and increased hospital admissions.

However, with such a high percentage of these errors being made during administration alone, there is great potential for improving patient safety and the accuracy of medication.

PillTime can help

PillTime is a community pharmacy with a difference. We provide a free NHS service which helps to reduce medication administration errors. Because we use the latest technology to pre-sort medication into pouches, carers can be confident that their patients are taking the right medication at the right time, every time.

All medication that needs to be taken at a particular time is dispensed into a single pouch. The pouches are clearly labelled with when they need to be taken and full descriptions of the contents. We deliver throughout England, providing a MAR chart with every PillTime box.

Carers can be assured of accurate medication with PillTime. All pouches are checked for 100% accuracy using image recognition and our highly-trained pharmacists are on hand to provide expertise where needed. Carers can simply tear off the pouch required and supervise the patient, with no need to sort medication.

The PillTime solution could dramatically improve patient safety. Providing more accurate medication, we can reduce medication errors and help patients feel better for longer.

www.pilltime.co.uk