DMURs comprised 1% of MURs provided in the previous Belnacasan in vivo month; key barriers to provision were not receiving discharge medication summaries, and restrictions on provision to housebound patients/patients in care homes. Community pharmacists identified a clear need for DMURs and want to play a greater part in managing patients’ medicines after discharge Targeted medicines use reviews (MUR) were introduced in late
2011 and included reviews after a patient’s discharge from hospital (DMURs) but to date there are no published studies on this important service. The aims of our study were to investigate: i) community pharmacists’ experiences of, and involvement in, provision of DMURs SB203580 price and ii) pharmacists’ suggestions for service improvement. An online survey of community pharmacists in NHS Airedale, Bradford & Leeds (NHS ABL) was conducted in March 2013. The questionnaire was developed drawing on published research and practice literature. Piloting was conducted with six pharmacists and included review by both community and hospital practitioners. Questions were mostly structured, some invited additional comments. Data were analysed using Survey Monkey online
software. Ethical approval was granted by University of Bradford and NHS research governance approval by NHS ABL. Study information and a link to the online survey was publicised by Community Pharmacy West Yorkshire to the 450 pharmacies
in the area. The survey was open for two weeks from March 14th with a reminder after one week. Twenty-six community pharmacists participated; two thirds worked in pharmacies with five or more branches, three quarters had been qualified for 11 years or longer. Twenty respondents reported providing 643 MURs in the previous months, 76% of which were targeted Amobarbital MURs. Seven DMURs (1.1%) were provided by eight pharmacies. More than two thirds of respondents disagreed that patients were well educated about their medicines on leaving hospital. Not knowing when a patient had been in hospital and discharged was the most frequently cited barrier to greater involvement. Discharge medication summaries (DMS) were rarely received, (0–1 per week by most pharmacists), and mainly for patients discharged with a compliance aid. Patients who are not able to visit the pharmacy (those who are housebound or discharged to nursing homes) were reported as key barriers to DMUR provision. Workload, staffing and motivation were far less frequently cited. In addition to increased communication from hospitals respondents rated receipt of discharge summaries, wider permission to conduct telephone MURs for housebound patients and those in nursing homes, and funding for domiciliary MURs, most highly for service improvement.