PINCER System Searches and Care Homes

PINCER System Searches and Care Homes

The NHS Specialist Pharmacy Service has published this operational model to help pharmacy and medicines teams implement the NHS England and NHS Improvement Primary Care and Community Health Support for Care Homes guidance. The model includes a matrix of actions that any Pharmacy and Medicines Care Home Taskforce could take, including the use of available information such as the patient clinical record and risk stratification software, including PINCER and system searches.

Many GP practices will have systems in place to ensure that patients have a coded entry for ‘lives in a care home’ in their clinical record. Therefore, when using system searches, be that the PINCER prescribing safety indicators or any other PRIMIS tool based on a system search, the ability to filter and prioritise patients living in care homes (or residential homes) can be easily achieved.

Where the code ‘lives in a care home’ has not been applied, it is possible to search by address or post code. With careful validation of this list, it is possible for GP practices to batch add the code.

Find the SPS “Pharmacy and Medicines Support to Care Homes: Urgent System-Wide Delivery Model” here.

Further information on PINCER can be found on the PRIMIS website.