Resources
The practical resources below can help you to strengthen this area of CQC inspection.
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Resource creator: Skills for Care
A range of Infection, prevention and control related training is available to purchase from Skills for Care’s Endorsed learning providers.
You can search for quality learning across different parts of the country and find courses to meet your staff needs.
Date published: April 2023
Resource creator: Care Quality Commission (CQC)
The CQC has produced a range of medication guidance and advice aimed at residential and nursing care-related services, including:
- controlled drugs in care homes
- covert administration of medicines
- delegating medicines administration
- disposing of medicines
- managing oxygen in care homes.
Date published: March 2023
Resource creator: Care Quality Commission
Good quality records underpin safe, effective, compassionate, high-quality care. They communicate the right information clearly, to the right people, when they need it. They are an essential part of achieving good outcomes for people. The CQC has published some online guidance to help providers covering Electronic medicines administration records (eMAR).
Date published: February 2023
Resource creator: Care Quality Commission
If you are a Shared Lives Service that is registered with the CQC to deliver personal care, these services may also administer a person’s medicines as part of this. This is because medicines support is considered ‘ancillary to’ the personal care they are receiving. The CQC has produced online guidance for Shared Lives Services on this matter.
Date published: February 2023
Resource creator: Care Quality Commission
A provider that is registered with the CQC to deliver personal care may also administer a person’s medicines as part of this. This is because medicines support is considered ‘ancillary to’ the personal care they are receiving. The CQC has produced online guidance to advice Supported Living Services on this matter.
Date published: February 2023
Resource creator: Care Quality Commission
Good record keeping protects people receiving medicines support and their care workers. The CQC has published online guidance to support providers to consider what is needed to support people and ensure your records meet their expectations.
Date published: November 2022
Resource creator: Care Quality Commission (CQC)
Medicines management - assessment 'Learning from safety incidents' resources are designed to help prevent incidents from happening again. This article briefly describes - what happened, what CQC and the provider have done about it, and the steps you can take to avoid it happening in your service.
Date published: September 2022
Resource creator: Care Quality Commission (CQC)
Safe management of medicines - treatment 'Learning from safety incidents' resources are designed to help prevent incidents from happening again. This article briefly describes - what happened, what CQC and the provider have done about it, and the steps you can take to avoid it happening in your service.
Date published: September 2022
Resource creator: Care Quality Commission (CQC)
This annual report on the safer use of controlled drugs highlights CQC regulatory oversight activities and inspection findings in 2021.
Date published: July 2022
Resource creator: Skills for Care and Care Quality Commission (CQC)
This webinar explores the regulations and best practice around managing medicines in care homes and domiciliary care settings. People accessing care services often require support with their medication and organisations have a responsibility to ensure proper and safe use of medicines and require that staff responsible for the management and administration of medication are suitably trained and competent.
The webinar covers many topics including ‘PRN’ (when required) medicines including behaviour management, topical medicines including patch rotation, over-the-counter and self-administration and controlled drugs – risks and storage.
Date published: January 2022
Resource creator: NHS England
This is a national project involving many different organisations which are helping to stop the over use of Psychotropic medicines for people with a learning disability, autism.
Date published: December 2021
Resource creator: Skills for Care and Care Quality Commission (CQC)
This webinar, in partnership with CQC, explores the regulations and best practice around managing medicines in care homes and domiciliary care settings.
People accessing care services often require support with their medication, and organisations have a responsibility to ensure proper and safe use of medicines, as well as requiring that staff responsible for the management and administration of medication are suitably trained and competent.
The webinar recording is complemented by the following resources:
All information was correct at the time of uploading – 1 September 2021
Date published: July 2021
Resource creator: Care Quality Commission (CQC)
The CQC has produced some special guidance on medication related to COVID-19 including:
- inappropriate use of sedative medicines to enforce social distancing guidelines
- medicine support care plans - making adjustments during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic
- re-using named patient drugs as medicines supply
Date published: April 2021
Resource creator: Social Care Institute of Excellence (scie)
This webinar recording looks at evidence-based practical solutions for overcoming challenges to giving medicines covertly. The webinar includes expertise from:
- Pharmacist, Croydon CCG; NICE Medicines Associate
- CQC Medicines Optimisation Team
- CEO Walnut Care at Home, Chair Lincolnshire Care Association.
Date published: September 2019
Resource creator: National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE)
This is a short and visually appealing guide for care home managers and home care managers providing medicines support.
Adults shouldn’t be given medicines covertly unless they’ve been assessed as lacking the mental capacity to make decisions about their health or medicines.
If they lack capacity to make these decisions and it’s assessed as being in their best interests, they may need to be given medicines without their knowledge or consent (e.g., hidden in food or drink).
Date published: July 2019
Resource creator: National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE)
NICE quality standard on the care of children, young people and adults with a learning disability and behaviour that challenges.
It includes statements and measures on:
- initial assessment of behaviour that challenges
- a designated coordinator for the behaviour support plan
- personalised daily activities- review of restrictive interventions
- the use of antipsychotic medication.
The statements are specific and concise and focus on priorities for quality improvement.
Date published: July 2019
Resource creator: National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE)
This is a short and visually appealing guide for home care managers providing medicines support. Adults may need support to manage their medicines safely and effectively, and for some people this’ll be provided as part of a home care service.
Date published: August 2018
Resource creator: National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE)
This quality standard covers assessing if people need help with their medicines and deciding what medicines support is needed to enable people to manage their medicines. It also includes communication between health and social care staff, to ensure people have the medicines support they need. It describes high-quality care in priority areas for improvement.
Date published: July 2018
Resource creator: National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE)
This is a short and visually appealing guide for home care managers providing medicines support, as well as listing key information from the relevant NICE guidance. It covers:
- discussing medicines support
- the six rights of medicines administration
- planning and reviewing medicines support
- medicines policy.
Date published: November 2017
Resource creator: National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE)
NICE guideline covering the management of medicines for adults receiving social care in the community including home care, extra care and sheltered housing, Shared Lives and supported living.
Please see:
- S4.1 – recommendations 1.1.1, 1.1.2 & 1.11.1
- S4.2 - recommendation 1.7.1
- S4.3 – recommendations 1.6.2 & 1.6.3
- S4.4 – recommendation 18.1 – 1.8.3
- S4.5 – recommendation 1.6.4
- S4.6 – recommendations 1.2.4, 1.8.1 – 1.8.3
- S4.7 – recommendation 1.3.4.
Date published: March 2017
Resource creator: National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE)
This guideline covers safe and effective use of medicines in health and social care for people taking 1 or more medicines. It aims to ensure that medicines provide the greatest possible benefit to people by encouraging medicines reconciliation, medication review, and the use of patient decision aids.
Date published: March 2015
Resource creator: National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE)
This NICE Quality Standard advocates that people who live in care homes and have been assessed as lacking capacity are only administered medicine covertly if a management plan is agreed after a best interests meeting.
Date published: March 2015
Resource creator: National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE)
The guidelines cover good practice for managing medicines in care homes. They aim to promote the safe and effective use of medicines in care homes by advising on processes for handling and administering medicines.
These guidelines include recommendations on:
- developing and reviewing policies for the safe and effective use of medicines
- supporting residents to make informed decisions and recording them
- sharing information, record-keeping and medicines reconciliation
- safeguarding and medicine-related problems
- reviewing, prescribing, ordering and dispensing medicines, and receiving, storing and disposing of them
- helping residents to take their own medicines
- care home staff administering medicines (including covert administration) and non-prescription products
- training and competency of care home staff.
Date published: December 2014
Resource creator: National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE)
This guideline covers diagnosing and managing drug allergy in all age groups. It aims to make it easier for professionals to tell when someone is having an allergic reaction, by specifying the key signs and patterns to look out for. It also makes recommendations on improving people’s understanding of their drug allergies, and ensuring these are recorded properly in their medical records.
Date published: September 2014
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