Workshop 3 – Clinical prioritisation tools to improve patient care

Linked to EAHP Statements
Section 1 – Introductory Statements and Governance: Statement 1.3
Section 4 – Clinical Pharmacy Services: Statement 4.8
Section 5 – Patient Safety and Quality Assurance: Statement 5.2

ACPE UAN: 0475-0000-21-032-L05-P. An application-based activity. 

Abstract
The number of patients admitted to hospital is constantly rising but there is not a corresponding increase in the number of hospital pharmacists and therefore a proper review of all patients admitted cannot be guaranteed.

There are patients who clearly benefit from a pharmacists’ input more than others, for example, due to polypharmacy or co-morbidities. To avoid such high-risk patients being overlooked, the current practice of ward-based reviews of patients by pharmacists needs to change. Instead, high-risk patients should be prioritised irrespective of which ward they are admitted to.

The development, validation and use of tools that allow the prioritisation of the patients according to their risks have been shown to be effective in giving appropriate pharmacist care to the patient with the greatest need.

This interactive workshop will teach participants how to use clinical prioritisation tools, both in hospital where electronic prescribing is present and those where it is not. The workshop is directed at both pharmacists who are familiar with clinical prioritisation tools and those who are considering introducing clinical prioritisation tools as part of their future pharmaceutical care.

Learning objectives
After the workshop, participants should be able to:
• outline the essential use of clinical prioritisation tools in pharmaceutical care;
• explain how clinical prioritisation tools enhance patient safety;
• take an everyday hospital scenario, identify issues with an existing ward-based pharmaceutical care regime, and show how using the prioritisation tools would overcome these issues.

Educational need addressed
This workshop shares the importance of clinical prioritisation tools to optimize pharmaceutical care, improve patient safety and provide cost effectiveness.

Keywords: clinical prioritisation tools, pharmaceutical care, patient safety, risk management.