Training and education for the pharmacy team working with care homes
There are a lot of resources available to train teams working with care homes and in primary care. We have collated a number of them here, but this is not an exclusive list.
NICE Social Care Guideline (SC1) Publ 14th March 2014 Managing medicines in care homes
Our summary
- This guideline was updated on 1st May 2020 to reflect the information on reusing medicines in care homes
- Whilst not COVID-19 specific, the basics of good practice in managing medicines in care homes are important, particularly for those new to the sector.
Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) www.rpharms.com
Our summary
The RPS website contains a lot of useful resources for the pharmacy team. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the RPS has made a number of these free to access. Click here for more details. Key resources include –
- Working in Care homes – a guide which provides an overview of the different roles the pharmacy team may have within a care home.
- A simple self-assessment tool developed by RPS with CPPE, that pharmacists and pharmacy technicians working with care homes may want to undertake in order to identify gaps in learning, especially for COVID-19 scenarios. Available here
- The RPS have developed a care home specific training hub (now available, published on 28th May) where pharmacy professionals can update gaps in learning. Existing material will be used from educational partners.
Centre for Pharmacy Postgraduate Education (CPPE) www.cppe.ac.uk
Our summary
CPPE has created a learning and resource hub (here) which contains CPPE materials and resources from other organisations. Useful sections include –
- Returning to pharmacy practice
- Working in primary care and care homes including clinical fact sheets and links to additional resources for primary care
In addition, CPPE in conjunction with regional Medicines Information colleagues, has produced e-learning entitled Answering Medicines Related Enquiries in Primary Care. It covers a variety of enquiry types and works through the different resources available to answer those questions.
Health Education England Coronavirus (COVID-19) information for primary care
Our summary
- HEE offers a wide range of online educational resources ranging from profession specific development to more general sector based learning.
Our summary
Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) RCGPLearning – COVID-19 resource hub
- The RCGP has collated a number of podcasts and top tips to support developing telephone triage/consultation and online consultation skills – here. Click on RCGP resources to access
- Top Tips for GPs caring for Care Homes – a summary of examples of good practice which are relevant to pharmacy teams working with care homes
Other providers
There are a number of providers of training and education for the pharmacy team, you may have local access to providers including –
The AHSN network Primary care in care homes during COVID-19 webinar
Our summary
- The AHSN network had a webinar on 27th May 2020 – you can watch a recording of the webinar at the above link and also download the presentation.
Medicines Safety Portal https://www.medicinesafety.co.uk/p/welcome.html
Our summary
The Medicines Safety Portal is a collaboration between Southampton Medicines Advice Service and Wessex AHSN. Sections include –
- Problem solving and medicines – including additives in medicines, COVID-19 and medicines, shortages of medicines
- Info sources – links to free online resources to help make decisions about medicines
Primary Care Pharmacy Association (PCPA) PCPA COVID-19 hub
Our summary
- PCPA provides a number of resources including webinars and clinical management resources relevant to those working in primary care
PresQipp COVID-19 virus and medicines
Our summary
- PresQipp provides both publicly available and subscription only resources and tools for healthcare professionals
To get back to our care homes resource hub, click here
If we’ve missed any advice or guidance which you think would be helpful to care home pharmacy teams, please get in touch.