Category F: Excellence in Ask About Medicines Week activities
Sponsored by the Royal Pharmceutical Society of Great Britain
This category included any activities carried out during Ask About Medicines Week 2005 or 2006 either as individual events or as part of a week-long campaign. Entries into this category had to explain the rationale for the activity and demonstrate what it achieved.
Winner:
NHS Direct for the NHS Direct Medicines Information Service and Ask About Medicines Help Line.
NHS Direct ran a special helpline during Ask About Medicines Week 2005, providing a more personalised service to callers with queries about medicines and referring complex queries to the UK Medicines Information (UKMI) Pharmacist Network.
Enquiries to a similar helpline run the previous year were analysed and protocols developed to support the health information advisors who would manage the calls.
Nearly 100 calls were received on the helpline during Ask About Medicines Week, the majority concerning adverse events. Half the calls were referred to UKMI. Responses to the NHS Direct user satisfaction survey revealed that callers were satisfied with the service.
As a result, NHS Direct now uses a medicines enquiry algorithm and has a service level agreement with UKMI, which handled over 5000 medicines related calls between July 2006 and March 2007.
Runner-up:
East Sussex Downs and Weald PCT Pharmacy Team for 2006 Ask About Medicines Week campaign.
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