Safer use of time critical medicines programme

Background to the programme

There are known risks associated with time critical medicines, and harms continue to be reported due to people not getting these medicines on time.

The Safer Use of Time Critical Medicines Programme has been running since 2024. It is delivered by NHS Specialist Pharmacy Service (SPS) and is part of NHS England’s Medicines Safety Improvement Programme (MedSIP). The programme aims to identify interventions that effectively reduce harm related to time critical medicines, share this learning and support replication of practice across the NHS.

An appreciative inquiry was undertaken between October 2024 and March 2025. This enabled us to gain a detailed understanding of improvement work that has already been carried out and what has been learnt from this, with a focus on what worked well.

Aims of the programme

The programme uses quality improvement and professional collaboration, to reduce the number of delayed and omitted doses of time critical medicines. This can also lead to:

• improved quality of life for people on time critical medicines
• improved patient experience
• reduced patient harm, including death
• reduced length of stay for people on time critical medicines
• reduced staff time spent on remedial actions after an omitted or delayed dose

The collaborative

The programme includes a quality improvement collaborative, which aims to equip trusts with the skills and knowledge to deliver high quality projects, improving the safe use of time critical medicines in the local organisation. The first cohort began in July 2025 and will run until March 2026, during which 15 acute and mental health NHS Trusts are undertaking their own local quality improvement projects. The programme team provide support for these organisations, including through regular online workshops and coaching sessions.

Community of practice

The community of practice is another part of the programme, made up of a wider group of individuals committed to improving the safe use of time critical medicines. Networking is facilitated via online forums and regular drop in sessions.

Programme outputs

We aim to share knowledge gained from the programme, including interventions shown to have an impact on reducing omitted and delayed doses of time critical medicines.

Webinar

In July 2025, we shared current learning from the programme, alongside examples of improvement interventions in our online SPS Safer use of time critical medicines webinar.

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