HSJ Awards 2015: Enhancing care by sharing data and information

The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals Foundation Trust – Delivering seamless transfer of pharmaceutical care: an innovative pharmacy e-referral system linking secondary and primary care

One in five patients has problems with their medicine following discharge from hospital, according to the Royal Pharmaceutical Society.

The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals Foundation Trust worked with North of Tyne Local Pharmaceutical Committee to develop a patient referral system that linked hospitals in the city with pharmacy providers such as Boots.

Community pharmacists now contact the patient within three working days of their discharge from hospital to arrange a review of their medicine use or a consultation. Key information about this interaction is then returned to hospital colleagues.

In the nine months to 31 March 2015, pharmacists reported nearly 90 per cent of patients had a better understanding of their medicine following a review. Thirteen patients were referred to their GP and three referred back to the hospital following adverse reactions to medicine.

Consultations with pharmacists have led patients to access other public health services such as smoking cessation, flu vaccination and home delivery.

The Academic Health Science Network for the North East and North Cumbria established a Transfer of Care project team in October 2014 to expand the service at pace and scale across the region. By the summer of 2015, it was anticipated that 10 trusts would have adopted the model.

Judges praised the “pioneering” scheme, which they said had a “national impact”