NICE/SCIE Quick Guides: Medicines support
NICE/SCIE quick guides for home care managers providing medicines support.
Giving medicines covertly
Adults should not be given medicines covertly unless they have been assessed as lacking the mental capacity to make decisions about their health or medicines. This quick guide from NICE/SCIE will help care home and home care managers to ensure that decisions about giving medicines covertly are made in the person’s best interests. It covers:
- Capacity and consent
- Making a decision to give medicines covertly
- Urgent decisions
- Involving others
Discussing and planning medicines support
As far as possible, people should manage their own medicines. Where it is not possible, support may be provided by different people, including family, healthcare workers or home care workers. It is essential to be clear about what support is needed and who will provide it. This guide will be helpful to managers of services where it has been agreed that medicines support will be included as part of the home care service. It covers:
- Discussing medicines support
- The 6 rights of medicines administration
- Planning and reviewing medicines support
- Medicines policy
Effective record keeping and ordering of medicines
Adults may need support to manage their medicines safely and effectively, and for some people this will be provided as part of a home care service. This quick guide covers two important aspects of medicines support – record keeping and checking and ordering medicines. Information includes:
- Completing a medicines administration record (MAR)
- Making sure medicines are available when needed
- Managing over-the counter medicines
- What to expect from health professionals