Pharmacy homecare medicines service: Information for patients, relatives and carers

You have been provided with this leaflet as your clinician has prescribed medicines for you that can be delivered directly to your home, or other stated address of your choice (your preferred address). This is a ‘homecare medicines service’.

What is Pharmacy?

Pharmacy is the clinical and technical team that support on the management of preparing, dispensing, reviewing and monitoring prescriptions and medications to ensure they are safe and effective.

What is a homecare medicines service?

A homecare medicines service delivers your medicines or treatment directly to your preferred address.

With your agreement, Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (CUH) (Addenbrooke’s) will send your prescription to one of our trusted third party homecare medicines service providers who will dispense and deliver your medicines.

How does a homecare medicines service work?

Your hospital clinical team prepares your prescription and sends it to the homecare provider. The homecare provider will contact you to arrange a first and subsequent deliveries. A nurse from the homecare provider might visit you at home to teach you how to take your medicine. Ongoing administration of medicines by a homecare nurse may be part of some treatments, if applicable, this will be discussed with you in detail prior to starting treatment.

The homecare provider will explain how to store your medicine, some medicines need special storage, such as in a fridge. If there are any problems with the equipment for example, a power cut causes the fridge to turn off, report this to the hospital pharmacy homecare team who will advise on what to do with your medicines.

Once you have received your medicines, if you are worried that your medicines look different from what you were expecting, please contact your homecare provider.

Once you have started taking your medicines, it is important you follow the instructions given and take them regularly. This will help you to get the expected benefits of the medicine and avoid waste.

If you have any medical problems or concerns about your medicines, please talk to your clinical team at the hospital. If your GP changes, please advise your clinical team and the pharmacy homecare team.

What are my responsibilities?

Responsibility for medicines held at home

If you find that you are receiving more deliveries than you need, or perhaps not enough, it is your responsibility to flag this to your homecare provider, usually by phoning the customer service team. If you have stock left when a new delivery arrives you should check the older stock is still in date and use it before starting the new delivery – unless there have been changes in what you should take.

Responsibility to be available

The homecare provider will discuss with every patient when they can expect their medicines to be delivered.

After this has happened, it is your responsibility to make sure you are at home and available to receive your medicine at the arranged date and time.

Make sure you contact the homecare provider customer service team if something unexpected arises and you cannot be there to accept your medicines.

What are the benefits of using this service?

Your medicines will be delivered to your preferred address, at regular intervals. This means you do not have to go to the hospital to collect medication. The homecare provider can also make the delivery at a date and time that suits you.

It is important that you still attend your routine hospital appointments whilst you are receiving homecare deliveries, as the hospital needs to monitor your health. Not attending your appointments could interrupt your medicine deliveries.

What are the delivery options?

Your delivery options may vary depending on your type of treatment. Deliveries are usually via a van delivery to your:

• home
• place of work
• named friend or relative’s address

Receiving your deliveries

It is your responsibility to ensure that someone is at home and available to receive your medicine at the arranged date and time. If something unexpected arises and you cannot accept your delivery, you must contact the homecare provider’s customer service team in advance.

You must be available to take phone calls from your homecare provider to confirm your delivery arrangements. If you change your phone number, you must let your homecare provider know. If they are unable to contact you, there may be delays to your delivery.

If you are receiving more deliveries than you need, or possibly not enough, it is your responsibility to discuss this with the homecare provider’s customer service team. If you are running out of your medicines and a new delivery has not been arranged, contact your homecare provider.

If you have medicines at home when a new delivery arrives, check the older medicines are still in date and use these before starting the new delivery, unless you have been told otherwise.

About the homecare providers we use

The homecare providers we use are private companies who are not part of the NHS or our hospital but have been chosen by us to provide this service to you. The homecare provider we use will vary depending on which medicine or treatment you are receiving.

Occasionally, we may change the homecare medicines service provider we use. We will always manage this with little to no effect to you. We always use tried and trusted homecare providers who demonstrate years of experience in providing quality homecare medicines services.

Feedback – the survey and questionnaire & responsibility to contribute

Every patient will, at some stage, be asked for feedback on their homecare experience. This will usually be at least once each year.

This will be an opportunity for you to voice your thoughts on the service you receive and will give your provider the information they need to make their service as good as possible.

It is expected that you will help by providing feedback if you can.

What you say in this feedback will help the homecare company, the hospital and the manufacturer better shape the service for what you need.

Frequently asked questions

What do I do if I have a problem?

Your homecare provider will provide you with a contact telephone number and out of hours contact information for their customer services department.

If you have a problem which requires medical assistance you should always contact your clinical team at the hospital.

Complaints

If you feel you need to complain about any aspect of your homecare you should contact your homecare provider to begin with. The details of who to contact should be in your information pack. You can also contact the hospital or your clinical team.

Homecare companies have a responsibility to pass on any concerns you have to your clinical team.

Every patient has the right to comment on the service they receive.

If things go wrong

Homecare medicines services are of a high standard but errors can occur. Any patient who believes an error has been made regarding their homecare has the right to voice their concerns. When you start on homecare you will be given information about what to do if this happens.

If you would like to talk to someone you should contact your homecare provider. You may also need to contact your clinical team if you are concerned about what to do.

The homecare company and the NHS will want to learn from any errors so reporting them is important.

What information will the homecare provider know about me?

The homecare provider is bound by the same confidentiality rules as the NHS regarding accessible patient information under The Data Protection Act 1998 and General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

Your personal details (including name, NHS number, and date of birth, preferred delivery address, contact details, medical condition and treatment) will be held on the provider’s highly secure computer network.

A registration form will be completed where we will ask you to agree, either in writing or verbally, that you are prepared for a homecare provider to hold information about you and your medical condition.

The homecare provider will only contact you to arrange delivery of your medicines and they will only discuss your treatment with you or a member of the hospital team.

What do I do if I am going on holiday?

If you need a larger delivery of medication to cover your holiday, please contact your hospital clinical team at least three months in advance.

The team will then assess if they can meet your request. They will also give you advice on transporting and storing your medication while you are away.

Contact details

Who should I contact?

You should contact the homecare provider if:

• the delivery has not arrived as planned
• you would like to change your delivery date or time
• you are running low on medication and have not been contacted by the homecare provider to arrange a delivery
• you have any other queries relating to the delivery of your medication

You should contact our in-house pharmacy homecare team if:

• you are unable to contact your homecare provider
• your homecare provider does not have a current prescription for you
• you have any concerns regarding the service provided or wish to make a complaint

You should contact your clinical team if:

• you are feeling unwell or feel that your condition is getting worse
• you are experiencing any side effects from your medication
• you are going on holiday and need a larger delivery of medication

Contact numbers

Addenbrooke’s Pharmacy Homecare Team: 01223 274334

Addenbrooke’s Medicines Information Team: 01223 217502

Alcura: 0800 028 0376

Healthnet: 0800 083 3060

Lloyds Homecare (LPCH): 0345 263 6123

Pharmaxo: 01225 302188

Polar Speed: 0800 783 3178

Sciensus: 0333 103 9499