Staff thanked for taking part in medicine management audit

Staff who work in the Trust’s learning disability team were presented with certificates at a special medicines information event on 13th June, to recognise their participation in the Prescribing Observatory for Mental Health – UK (POMH-UK) audit.

The national POMH-UK aims to help specialist mental health Trusts and healthcare organisations to improve their prescribing practices of medication for people with mental health problems.

There are a range of medications available for the treatment of mental health which, as well as relieving the persons symptoms, can sometimes also cause unpleasant and disabling side effects. When choosing which medication would be best for an individual, it can be difficult to predict the likely benefits and risks.

By taking part in the POMH-UK quality improvement programmes NHS Trusts are able to measure their own prescribing practices, ensure they are prescribing the right medications to individuals and implement measures to improve these practices if required. The programmes also allow Trusts to check that their practices meet nationally agreed standards, including meeting Care Quality Commission core standards and NICE guidelines.

Simon Plummer, clinical lead for learning disabilities at the Trust said, "This is an important part of our service improvement programme as the audits enable us to fully understand where we can improve our medicine management practice. It also helps us to measure our performance against other Trusts and present clear information to our teams about their individual performance."

The Trust’s professional lead nurse for learning disability, Nigel McLoughlin, added "Learning disability services are working very hard on the medicine management agenda and would like to say thanks to all those at the Trust including the CGST who helped staff to take part in the audit."