HSC 3047 Support Use Of Medication In Social Care Settings Essay

The task of completing the Controlled Drugs Register can be delegated by the prescribing officer to another member of staff, however, responsibility for the supply remains with the prescribing officer.

A prescription can be identified as legally authorised written instruction by a prescribing officer to a pharmacist to dispense medication.

When making the decision to prescribe there are a number of influence you have to consider. It is important to have an awareness of these influences and take them into consideration when issuing a prescription. It is importance to have knowledge of the DOH (2006) Medicines Matters this give guidance on the mechanisms available for prescribing and administration and supply of products. Team trends and external company’s and there representatives promoting their products have a big influence on your prescribing practice Bradley (2006) found that these influences were of concern to some nurses feeling that their colleague may ask them to prescribe for patients they haven’t seen. Thomas (2008)

A pharmacist must check any medication that is administered to a patient. This is the

There are several types of medication, each has a purpose and function needed for their administration via the different routes.

Dispensing- To prepare and distribute medicines (i.e. the prescription is given to the pharmacist at the chemist to fill) Supporting – Administering – Checking medication requirements against the Medication Administration Record and prepare and give these to the service user: open bottles and packets of tablets and remove them for the service user to take; pour out a dosage of medicine; open a medication compliance aid and give the medication to the service user to take; apply creams; apply eye, ear, and nose drops.

If social care worker collects medicines for the service user they must ensure that any written policies and procedures for every aspect of handling medicines are adhered too. The registered provider is responsible for ensuring that when care workers give medicines they have the right training and are competent to do so.

* There must be a policy at work place for the receipt, recording, storage, handling, administration and disposal of medicines.

The Act controls supply of the medications. This act states that medicines supplied or sold at a pharmacy under the management of a qualified pharmacist. Then again, a few medications can be sold at different premises, for example, stores, the length of their repackaging and the premises can be shut to bar people in general. It's unlawful to offer medication from business stalls or from vehicles, for example, at auto boot

Assisting – At the request of the service user, opening bottles and packets; removing lids; popping pills out of packages when the service user cannot physically do this and has asked the care worker to help with that specific medicine; shaking bottles.

The Medicines Act 1968:- The Medicines Act controls the manufacture and supply of medicines for human and veterinary use. The act defines three categories of the supply of drugs; Prescription only medicines, Pharmacy Medicine, and General sales list medicines the act controls

1. In the workplace there is a generic Medication Management Policy and Procedures for Adult Services (Issue 10, 2012) document. This is kept to hand in a locked cupboard, readily available to read. It requires that all Healthcare Staff are given mandatory training and refreshers are provided. Legislation which surrounds the administration of medication includes The Medicines Act 1968, The Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, The Data Protection Act 1998, The Care Standards Act 2000 and The Health and Social Care Act 2001

There are several legislations in place with protocols for the administration of medication which I have listed below. The main policy re admin of drugs and storing of drugs and medicines is the Control Of Substances Hazardous to Health or COSHH but along with this there are other policies in place as per the list below.

I also work closely with local pharmacies and doctors around the changing of a person’s medication. It’s important that we work closely together to ensure that the service user is having the correct medication at all times.

The nurse must verify the physician’s medication order, including the dose and time, and then the pharmacy is responsible for their own checks and balances via the BCMA system in order to complete the dispensing phase of the medication (Gooder, 2011). The nurse enters the BCMA system with a login and password and is able then to see a list of the virtual due list for a specific patient. The computer on wheels is then taken to that patient’s room and the five rights of medication administration begin. As nurses, we are taught to use the five rights of drug administration are (1) right patient (2) right medication (3) right dose (4) right route and (5) right time. By scanning the barcode on the patient’s hospital identification band, the nurse then asks for the patient to verbally state their name and date of birth, which can be verified by the nurse on the virtual due list and then choses the medication that are due for administration at that time. The medication is dispensed and the nurse is able to scan the barcode on the medication, the scanning triggers the automatic documentation of the medication given (Kelly, 2012).