Aged care meds safety

AUSTRALIA is playing a game of Russian roulette with the use of medicines in aged care, research published today by the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia (PSA) states.

Launching the Our Medicine Safety: Aged Care report in Canberra this morning, PSA National President, Dr Chris Freeman, said the issues around inappropriate use of medicines in the aged care sector needed to be “tackled without delay”.

“The Royal Commission has shone a light on significant shortcomings in residential aged care,” he said.

“Unfortunately, our report has found we are also neglecting vulnerable older Australians when it comes to protecting them from medicine-related harms.

“One of the most shocking findings of our report is that 20% of unplanned hospital admissions for aged care residents are a result of inappropriate medicines use.”

Freeman noted half of all aged care residents are taking medications that cause sedation or confusion, and are increasing the risk of falls and injuries for many patients.

“Pharmacists are medicine experts and in collaboration with other health professionals and carers can help identify and diminish the risk of medicine side-effects and harmful interactions,” he said.

“One way pharmacists already do this is through medication reviews.

“Currently, these can generally only be conducted once every two years.

“When they are, nearly all aged care residents have at least one problem with their medicines and most have three problems.

“When it comes to protecting older Australians, we must support pharmacists to spend more time in aged care and enable them to conduct more frequent medication reviews and follow-ups.

“Pilot programs which have embedded pharmacists in the aged care team have achieved demonstrable improvements in medicine safety and quality use of medicines.”

Providing a resident’s perspective, Goodwin Aged Care resident, Jean Fry, said “every nursing home should have its own pharmacist to help maintain independence and safety regarding their medications”.