Researchers from the Division of Primary Care have developed an IT-based pharmacist-led intervention (PINCER) which has been shown to be effective in reducing prescribing errors in general practices (Lancet publication 2012). The intervention has now been supported by the National Institute for Health Care Excellence (NICE) in its ‘Medicines Optimisation Clinical Guideline’ published 04/03/15 and available at:
http://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng5/evidence
PINCER is specifically mentioned as follows (p.35):
‘Organisations and health professionals should consider applying the principles of the PINCER intervention to reduce the number of medicines-related patient safety incidents, taking account of existing systems and resource implications. These principles include:
- using information technology support
- using educational outreach with regular reinforcement of educational messages
- actively involving a multidisciplinary team, including GPs, nurses and support staff
- having dedicated pharmacist support
- agreeing an action plan with clear objectives
- providing regular feedback on progress
- providing clear, concise, evidence-based information.’
Professor Tony Avery (Chief Investigator for the PINCER trial) said: ‘It's great to see that the intervention we have developed is supported by NICE. We are about to embark on a large-scale rollout of PINCER in up to 526 general practices across the East Midlands (supported by a £500,000 grant from the Health Foundation, with additional support from the East Midlands Academic Health Science Centre). Endorsement from NICE will really help to encourage general practices and clinical commissioning groups to take part in this initiative.’
Find out more about Medicine Safety and Effective Healthcare research in the School of Medicine.
Posted on Friday 6th March 2015