Medicine-related harm in residential aged care facilities is an alarming issue – one which could be improved through embedding pharmacists according to the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia (PSA).
In its submission to the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety, PSA has called for a national program that embeds pharmacists in all aged care facilities.
PSA National President Dr Chris Freeman said that residents in aged care facilities deserved to have timely and regular access to the expertise of a pharmacist if they required advice and support with their medicines and medicine management.
"The health of the aged care sector matters a great deal to pharmacists and many pharmacists already contribute to activities and services to improve resident safety and system changes impacting on quality and safety in aged care facilities," he said.
"However older Australians, particularly aged care residents, deserve more. There must be a stronger connection between health care and aged care."
PSA's Medicine Safety: Take Care report showed that 98 per cent of residents in a residential aged care facility have at least one medicine-related problem and over half are exposed to at least one potentially inappropriate medicine. Pharmacists, with their unique expertise in medicines and medicine management, are ideally placed to identify and help resolve these issues.
"Pharmacists embedded in facilities can contribute to improving quality use of medicines facility-wide and reducing harm caused by overuse of medicines," Dr Freeman said.
"It has been clear through evidence provided to the Royal Commission that we need to have pharmacists protecting patients from the inappropriate prescribing and use of medicines."
In its submission, PSA also called
