Development and utility of a medication self‐assessment tool for community‐based healthcare services

Abstract

AbstractThe safe and quality use of medicines is a key priority for healthcare organisations, and there are governance responsibilities for all facilities in which medications are stored, prescribed and administered. There are often difficulties in understanding medication use in smaller community‐based healthcare services. In the absence of suitable existing published resources, we developed a self‐assessment tool to help identify gaps in medication management and safety specifically for use in the Women's and Children's Health Network's services located external to the main hospital campus. The tool identified several issues, including insufficient licensing, suboptimal communication of medication practice changes and inadequate documentation of medicine administration in some settings. Action plans were developed in consultation with clinical staff. The self‐assessment tool was well received by staff, improved our organisation's understanding of medication use outside the main hospital, and has helped provide evidence for meeting accreditation requirements for the safe and quality use of medicines.