Pharmacy Department, Austin Health, Heidelberg, Vic., Australia.
Monash University, Parkville, Vic., Australia.
Australas J Ageing. 2021 Sep;40(3):323-327. doi: 10.1111/ajag.12925. Epub 2021 Mar 2.
To explore wastage of hospital-supplied medications for patients discharged to residential care facilities (RCFs).
Telephone interviews with staff at 52 RCFs and nine community pharmacies after patients were discharged from three hospitals in metropolitan Victoria, Australia, with medication supplied in original packs.
Hospital-supplied medication was used by most RCFs, for a median of 48 hours, while waiting for community pharmacies to deliver medications packed in the RCFs' preferred dose administration aid system (unit-dose or multi-dose blister packs or sachets). All RCFs reported sending unused hospital-supplied medications to their community pharmacy. Six of the nine community pharmacies (managing 83% patients) indicated they did not reuse hospital-supplied medications, with the exception of select difficult-to-source medications.
There was significant wastage of hospital-supplied discharge medications. Changes to the way hospital discharge medications are funded and quantities supplied are needed to ensure continuity of medication administration while minimising financial and environmental impacts of medication wastage.
探讨供应给出院至养老院（RCF）患者的医院用药的浪费情况。
在澳大利亚维多利亚州大都市的三家医院，对 52 家 RCF 和 9 家社区药店的工作人员进行电话访谈，这些患者出院时携带了原包装的药物。
大多数 RCF 使用医院供应的药物，中位数为 48 小时，同时等待社区药店按 RCF 首选剂量给药辅助系统（单位剂量或多剂量泡罩包装或小袋）包装药物。所有 RCF 都报告将未使用的医院供应药物送到其社区药店。9 家社区药店中的 6 家（管理着 83%的患者）表示他们不会重复使用医院供应的药物，除了一些难以获得的药物。
医院供应的出院药物有大量浪费。需要改变医院出院药物的供资方式和数量，以确保药物管理的连续性，同时将药物浪费对财务和环境的影响降至最低。
