eLetters

16 e-Letters

  • Deprescribing in the population with learning/intellectual disabilities
    Bernadette Flood

    Vulnerable populations are vulnerable because they are susceptible to harm in health care environments. It is important that the healthcare issues specific to the population with learning/intellectual disabilities are considered when prescribing and deprescribing.

    Deprescribing tools must be validated in the population with learning/intellectual disabilities to ensure safety and quality care. People with learn...

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  • UK hospital patient discharge
    Michael J Wilcock

    Dear Editor

    Wright and colleagues report on a single centre survey of inpatient perceptions and experiences of the current discharge process, and identify improvement opportunities in relation to waiting for medicines, and lack of counselling by pharmacists.(1) Problems such as low awareness among inpatients of pharmacy services, or pharmacists citing challenges to achieving patient medication counselling have b...

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  • RE: Improving illiterate patients understanding and adherence to discharge medications.
    Regis Vaillancourt

    Dear Editor:

    We read Clayton's report published in the BMJ with great interest. Clayton and his team's quality improvement project demonstrated how the use of symbols and pictures at Lahore, Pakistan, help increase patient adherence.

    The International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP) and the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO) research group have been studying the use of pictograms for many...

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  • A vital point
    Pradip De
    Well done folks! We do not have a formalized A4 type of paper to fill up prior to the procedure, but we carry out most of these checks without ticking boxes. We have a pathway, which includes almost all of these and is normally checked by the Endoscopy nurse and a cancer specialist nurse. Only an independent bronchoscopist (not the trainee) is allowed to check the safety prior to add the patient in the list for the procedure. I...
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  • Actions following this improvement project
    Kevin Gibbs

    As a result of this quality improvement project we have changed the adult fluid prescription used within the Trust. We have redesigned the prescription section to have a clearer space to document patient related cautions, such as heart failure; and included a printed prompt for 'Indication' on each prescriptions line.

    Conflict of Interest:

    None declared

  • Improving discharge summaries
    William Hall

    Discharge summaries are an important connection between care in hospital and primary care, and effective transfer of information is vital for patient safety and continuity of care. Having spent my foundation year one in hospital and now working in a general practice, I have been able to see discharge summaries from both sides. Discharge summaries contribute significantly to the work load of junior doctors and often re...

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