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Q Exchange

Medicines safety initiative

Development of a register/dashboard for patients on lithium and sodium valproate.

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  • Idea
  • 2020

Meet the team

Also:

  • Kiran Hewitt

What is the positive change that has emerged through new collaborations or partnerships during Covid-19 that your project is going to embed?

Discussions across primary and secondary care through the pharmacy STP board regarding the value that a data/base/register would be to monitor patients prescribed lithium and valproate. Resulting from national medicines safety alerts and initiatives for both drugs.

Relevant to us as a MH trust. Currently, records held by individual practices and trusts but this leads to difficulties in sharing this information and ensuring physical health monitoring is consistent and patients care is optimal.

More recently, valproate without a risk assessment and PPP is banned in the UK. Assurance isn’t available without shared records therefore this initiative for a centralised database would improve patient safety across the county.

What does your project aim to achieve?

Benefits = reducing health inequalities between those with mental ill health and to ensure their physical health is considered and monitored appropriately. This joint database would allow each care provider to have access to patient information and prevent patients having to repeat themselves at each interface.

Not having a register poses a risk to patient care.

How will the project be delivered?

Proposal to request a resource is made and held by Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust for administration support in setting up the database, getting approval for sharing information between care settings and having the ability to provide patient centred care.  To be managed internally by one provider who will liaise with link personnel from the primary care sector.

How is your project going to share learning?

Organisations that have a lithium database already can evidence value for money and return on investment and better quality patient care. Therefore this approach to ROI would be gained from other MH Trusts.

Comments

  1. yes - if lithium and/or valproate are Rx in this group

  2. Important to ensure timely physical health monitoring to reduce Cardiometabolic Syndrome Patients are already disadvantaged with 15-20 years premature mortality. When the CQUIN for SMI was available up until last week only a few Mental Health Trusts achieved the 50% of the  8 standards for physical Health monitoring.for patients on SMI register held with GP's since COVID-19 the standard which is now 60% has declined

    Will this project cover all patients community/inpatients with a SMI diagnosis will Early Intervention in Psychosis patients also be included.

    If lifestyle changes links to motivational Interviewing can reduce premature mortality in this group of patients then the project has the potential to also increase life expectancy by increasing physical health monitoring gets my vote

     

     

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