Partner Article

New policy to ensure safer medicine administration

A new policy has been developed to address the safe handling of medicine in the North East. The Durham and Tees Valley regional medication policy group worked in collaboration with Cels, the organisation driving the healthcare economy in North East England, to implement the new procedures.

The group recently published a Regional Strategy and a Model of Good Practice Policy in a bid to help up-skill staff in a care environment and to ensure that improper and potentially dangerous handling of medicine in the region is minimised.

The policy has been embraced by a number of PCTs across the region, including Middlesbrough and Redcar & Cleveland, and is further bolstered by the backing from the Skills for Care North East, and CSCI, the regulating body for health and social care in the UK.

Cels has provided sponsorship, business and marketing support to the group which has continually urged councils, care home groups and domiciliary care agencies across the region to support the initiative.

Lesley Ann Gallagher, Sector Skills Manager at Cels said: “The need to up-skill the workforce in the area of Safe Handling of Medicine is crucial when encouraging a higher standard of care services. Cels is proud to play a strong role within this policy, set to ensure that incidents of improper administration of medicine by care workers is dramatically decreased in North East England.”

Bob Elliott, Learning and Development Manager of Adult and Community Services within Durham County Council, who has been leading the working group, said: “The management, administration and safe handling of medication are core functions in health and social care. It is imperative that staff are accountable within this area of their work and that they are competent enough to deliver a high level of care to service users.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .