Discharge Medicines Service (DMS)

DMS Declaration of Competence CPPE link

Hospitals in our area launched their referral to community pharmacy service via the PharmOutcomes™ platform from January 2020.

The following Trusts in the locality are making referrals:

• Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust (Walsall Manor Hospital)
• Wolverhampton Royal NHS Trust (New Cross Hospital)
• Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust (City and Sandwell Hospitals)
• Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust (Russells Hall Hospital)

This service represents an important milestone for pharmacies: community pharmacy and hospital pharmacy colleagues in The Black Country and West Birmingham STP have been working together with West Midlands AHSN to try and improve care for recently discharged patients where it is thought there would be potential benefit of a further intervention. Medicines Support (Hospital to Home) will be a new service which aims to ensure patients receive appropriate support from their community pharmacist soon after leaving hospital by using PharmOutcomes™ to pass messages securely to and from the hospital and community pharmacy.

Hospital pharmacists will use PharmOutcomes™ to refer patients nearing discharge to the patients chosen local community pharmacy. Patient information will be sent electronically to the community pharmacy and will include: date of birth, postcode, NHS number, GP details and the discharge medicines list (attached as a PDF). A member of the community pharmacy team will then contact the patient ideally within three days to arrange for them to come in for a consultation. This visit may then result in the completion of a Medicines Use Review, New Medicine Service and/or other suitable services; such as repeat dispensing, home delivery, stop smoking, flu vaccination etc…

This is not itself a directly commissioned service, however can potentially lead to the important provision of other advanced or enhanced commissioned services by community pharmacies. Evidence has shown real benefits to patients receiving such interventions through reduced readmission rates back into hospital and improved health outcomes. You may wish to read The Pharmaceutical Journal which has published an article about a similar scheme.

The service has been coordinated by the LPCs, Local Acute Trusts and West Midlands AHSN supported by local CCGs.