Selected items from the News and Latest Additions sections of www.palliativedrugs.com, the world’s leading palliative care website.
Asthma guideline 2011 revision
The 2011 revision of the British Thoracic Society (BTS) and Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN) management of asthma guideline is now available. There are updates to monitoring patients with asthma (section 2.6) and its pharmacological management (section 4), and a new section on asthma in adolescents (section 7). The full guideline, a quick reference guide and further information can be downloaded from the BTS or SIGN websites.
Cochrane review: interventions for improving palliative care for older people living in nursing care homes
A Cochrane review has been published where the primary objective was to determine effectiveness of multi-component palliative care service delivery interventions for residents of care homes for older people. The secondary objective was to describe the range and quality of outcome measures. For more information click here.
Guidance for staff responsible for care after death
The NHS National End of Life Care Programme has published guidance for staff responsible for care after death. For more information click here.
Guide to needs based palliative care commissioning for children, young people and their families
This guide was commissioned by the UK South West Development Centre. It has been developed jointly with the Association for Children’s Palliative Care (ACT), in consultation with a number of parents and professionals across the country. It is designed to assist commissioners in identifying the types of services they should consider when commissioning provision for children and young people with life-limiting and/or life-threatening conditions. For more information click here.
Guidance for withdrawing treatment in children’s palliative care
The UK children’s palliative care charity, ACT, has launched two new resources:
- a care pathway to support extubation within a children’s palliative care framework
- a parent’s guide – making critical care choices for your child.
For more information click here.
Handbook for controlled drugs for accountable officers
The National Prescribing Centre (NPC) has produced a handbook for controlled drugs for accountable officers in England, intended to supplement the guidance from the Department of Health. For more information click here.
WHO policy guidelines for controlled substances
The World Health Organisation (WHO) access to controlled medicines team has now published “Ensuring Balance in National Policies on Controlled Substances: Guidance for availability and accessibility for controlled medicines.” For more information click here.
Risk assessment tool to support NPSA RRR on loading doses
Following the UK National Patient Safety Agency (NPSA) Rapid Response Report (RRR) on loading doses (see news item 11-01-2011), the UK Medicines Information network (UKMi) has produced a tool to support organisations implement the risk assessment and prevent duplication of effort. The tool identifies the majority of medicines in routine clinical practice for which a loading dose is given, rates the severity of the consequence if that medicine was omitted or continued inadvertently, and provides a framework for assessment and response. The deadline for implementation of the RRR is 25-11-2011. For more information click here.
Guidance on the transfer of information about medicines
The Royal Pharmaceutical Society has produced new best practice guidance on keeping patients safe when they transfer between care providers – getting the medicines right.
The guidance, endorsed by the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges, the Royal College of GPs, the Royal College of Nursing and the Royal College of Physicians, contains:
- good practice principles for all healthcare professionals involved in the sending and receiving of information about medicines
- recommended core information about medicines that should move with the patient in order to ensure safe transfer
- suggestions for provider and commissioner organisations to help with the implementation of the good practice principles.
More information about the campaign is available on the Royal Pharmaceutical Society website.
Prepared by Sarah Charlesworth and Andrew Wilcock