Care Inspectorate Scotland publishes updated medication guidance for care at home services

The Care Inspectorate Scotland has published updated guidance setting out its expectations for how medication should be managed within care at home services, with a focus on promoting independence while ensuring medicines are handled safely.

The guidance reinforces the expectation that people receiving care should have as much control as possible over their medication, supported by robust medication management systems that follow recognised good practice.

The regulator says anyone receiving medication support in a care at home setting should have an assessment of their ability to manage their medicines. This assessment should inform the person’s care plan and risk assessment to ensure the level of support provided is appropriate and reflects their individual needs.

The guidance also makes clear that providers should have policies explaining the differences between prompting, assisting and administering medication so staff understand what each level of support involves and how it should be delivered.

Where staff are prompting or assisting people with their medication, the support provided can be recorded within daily care notes in line with the person’s care plan. The guidance also recognises that multi-compartment compliance aids (MCAs) can help people remain as independent as possible and states that support with these devices should also be documented appropriately.

Where staff administer medication, the Care Inspectorate says services should follow the principles of safe medicines management. This includes maintaining a medication administration record that documents each medicine given, the dose administered, the time of administration and the member of staff responsible. The same principles apply whether medicines are supplied in their original packaging or through monitored dosage systems or blister packs.

The guidance also highlights the importance of ensuring staff receive appropriate training to administer medicines safely, regardless of how they are supplied. Providers are encouraged to work with pharmacists and involve people using services, and where appropriate their representatives, when planning how medication support will be delivered.

The Care Inspectorate is encouraging care at home providers to review their current medication management arrangements against the updated guidance. Where improvements are needed, services should include these within their improvement plans, setting out the actions to be taken, including any additional staff training, and involving people using the service in the review process. The regulator also advises providers to adopt realistic and proportionate timescales when implementing any changes.

The Care Inspectorate has also confirmed that a separate practice note to support providers in applying the guidance will be published in due course.

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