Visiting pharmacists improve medication safety: Bolton Clarke

Community nurses have been referring clients to a pharmacist to improve medication safety under an Australian pilot.

The Visiting Pharmacist study saw Bolton Clarke employ two part‐time clinical pharmacists to review and reconcile clients' medications.

Pharmacists also educated clients and carers about their medicines, provided advice and support to community nurses and worked with clients' GPs and other prescribers to optimise medication regimens and revise or update nurses' medication treatment authorisation.

The study team reviewed 84 clients and found the intervention enhanced medication safety. Under the program, the pharmacists found an average of four medication‐related problems per client and an average of two medication discrepancies in treatment authorisations per client.

Nursing Review sat down with lead author Dr Cikie Lee, from the Bolton Clarke Research Institute, to learn more about the pharmacists’ role and the changes that were enacted following their reviews.