Our Medicines Safety Assurance Tool gives at-a-glance visibility of progress against actions required to ensure patient safety and helps commissioners and GP practices to provide assurance of compliance.
MLCSU Medicines Management and Optimisation (MMO) team working with GP Practices identified the burden on clerical and clinical staff to identify, share, action, and follow-up on medicines safety alerts. This led them to develop the Medicines Safety Assurance Tool or MSATTM that provides a systematic horizon scan of medicines safety information, and a means for commissioners and GP Practices alike to record actions, monitor implementation and ultimately provide assurance of compliance.
Over the last seven years, the team has developed and evolved the MSATTM into an at-scale innovative solution already utilised by 25 Clinical Commissioning Groups in the Midlands, Cheshire, Merseyside and Lancashire.
Its adaptability allows the tool to easily be tailored to local needs. The MSATTM is designed to meet the needs of individual GP Practices as well as Safety Committees, and provides effective governance and oversight to a larger network and organisation.
Each alert is listed with a recommended action and priority level via RAG status. The completed document is a permanent record that demonstrates compliance and gives assurance to patients, commissioners and regulators that care providers are meeting their NHS obligation to patient safety.
The primary purpose of the MSATTM is to reduce patient harm due to medicines. The data below shows by CCG the impact the MSAT had over a year:
- 51 safety alerts were identified
- 100% of the alerts were communicated in a prescribing newsletter to GPs, the CCG and community pharmacies
- 75% of the safety alerts were implemented through decision support software
- 70% of the alerts prompted a recommendation to complete a search of practice clinical systems.
As an innovative way to capture, record, and act upon safety alerts associated with medicines and medical devices, MSATTM can easily be shared at scale.
“The MSAT is a highly valued resource for Wolverhampton CCG. MLCSU have worked to improve and develop this tool over a period of time to meet the CCG needs. The tool has proven to be an excellent checklist that helps the CCG take appropriate actions around patient safety. The tool is also used regularly to inform the content of our internal assurance committee report.”
David Birch, Head of Medicines Optimisation, Wolverhampton Clinical Commissioning Group