EXCLUSIVE

Day Lewis CEO Kirit Patel has called for a nationally commissioned hospital discharge service.

The company runs a pilot scheme to assist recently discharged patients in Brixton, and Mr Patel said it is a "no-brainer" to commission a similar service across England's community pharmacies.

Hospital doctors “inevitably make a lot of changes to patient medication”, and Mr Patel said he has seen many patients leave hospital “only to come back" because of taking the wrong drug. 

"When they discharge patients, they send a note to the doctors. Has anyone told the carer to take [the patient's old medicine] off the shelf? No, because pharmacists are not in the loop," said Mr Patel.

Day Lewis launched its pilot in Brixton "a couple of years ago" after a pharmacist at a local hospital pharmacy took the “common sense approach” of asking the multiple to help them with discharged patients, Mr Patel said.

A similar service should be commissioned nationally because local services can still “cause confusion", he added.

Last year, NHS England urged pharmacists to take on the “vitally important role” of managing post-discharge medicines. This issue contributed to 10,000 patient safety incidents between October 2012 and September 2013, it stressed. 

An evaluation of the discharge medicines review service in Wales last year found that it delivered a three-fold return on investment.

How could patients in your area benefit from a hospital discharge service?

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