27 March 2025
The British Society for Rheumatology has welcomed the publication of the Independent Review of Medicines Homecare in Scotland.
The Chief Pharmaceutical Officer (CPO) announced the review in April 2023 in response to reports of failings in the standards of care provided across Scotland and the increasing demand for medicines homecare provision.
This followed high profile campaigning from the BSR, the Scottish Society for Rheumatology, other medical speciality groups and patient charities, to highlight concerns among the rheumatology community regarding the safety and reliability of homecare medicines services. BSR’s public affairs manager, Sarah Berry, was invited to join the NHS Scotland Review Reference Group.
The review report sets out a number of recommendations, which include:
- Measures to improve accountability across the organisations involved in homecare medicines
- The development of UK-wide Key Performance Indicators, focusing on the quality of patient care
- Improved communication between NHS boards, homecare providers and commissioners to enable early resolution of issues
- A consistent complaints approach for people who use homecare medicines services
- The introduction of digital solutions to enable digital prescribing and connectivity between organisations involved in homecare
- Workforce planning reviews by NHS boards and homecare providers to ensure homecare teams are appropriately resourced
- Deployment of community pharmacy as an alternative supply route, to support diversification in supply routes and reduce the risk of service failure
- A review of manufacturer-commissioned homecare schemes in Scotland, to ensure that there are optimal schemes available to patients and NHS boards
- A national consensus on when medicines homecare is an appropriate care approach, in line with professional guidance
Sarah Campbell, BSR CEO said:
"We strongly welcome the review report and national-level scrutiny of the way homecare medicines services are operated, something we have tirelessly called for in our campaigning. Along with our campaign partners we have highlighted the need for homecare services to be more transparent and more accountable.
There is still a long way to go to make sure that the hundreds of thousands of patients reliant on homecare services are receiving safe and reliable services, and to reduce the burden on NHS clinical teams. We now need to see urgent action from all organisations involved in medicines homecare in Scotland to implement the recommendations."