Nursing and residential care for the elderly in Northern Ireland: the contribution of the pharmacist.
OBJECTIVE
To gain more detailed information on the current pharmaceutical service provision in nursing and residential homes in Northern Ireland and to assess the views of care staff on future pharmacy services.


METHODS
A structured questionnaire was developed and mailed to all nursing and residential homes (n = 586) in Northern Ireland on two occasions.


RESULTS
A response rate of 68% (n = 396) was obtained. The most frequent services currently provided by community pharmacists were the supply of medication and the collection of unwanted, discontinued or out-of-date medicines. The majority of respondents also reported receiving advice on safe-keeping, correct administration of medicines, advice on more appropriate formulations and advice on patient medication records from the community pharmacist. Over a third of all the respondents received advice on compliance devices. A similar proportion stated that their care staff were trained by the pharmacist on broad medication management issues. Over 90% of all homes strongly supported staff training by pharmacists on the recognition of medication-related problems as a future service. Over 70% of all respondents thought additional guidelines and advice for missed dosages and the use of home remedies would be beneficial. A review of patient medication records to assess drug-drug interactions and possible adverse drug reactions by pharmacists was supported by over 65% of all respondents.


CONCLUSIONS
This work has demonstrated that those responsible for care in nursing and residential facilities strongly support further involvement by the pharmacist in these care facilities; pharmacy policy makers must ensure that such services are developed to meet the needs of these vulnerable elderly residents.
Schweizer
A K
AK
School of Pharmacy, Queen's University Belfast, 97 Lisburn Road, Belfast BT9 7BL. a.schweizer@qub.ac.uk
Hughes
C M
CM
D000368:Aged / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003157:Community Pharmacy Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006707:Homes for the Aged / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D009660:Northern Ireland; D009735:Nursing Homes / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010595:Pharmacists / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012112:Residential Facilities / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires