April 15th, 2020 at 10:30AM AEST

Webster-pak®: Ensuring Quality Medication Management

How DAAs are protecting the independence of patients and safeguarding quality medication management in home care.

Effective medication management plays a large part in maintaining safety and quality standards in home care. PSA’s Medicine Safety: Take Care report found, 250,000 hospital admissions in Australia each year are due to medicine-related problems and half of these are preventable. Medication management is dictated by the policies, procedures and systems that care organisations have in place; but it can also be as simple as the efforts of family members and care providers, helping patients with their regular Webster-pak®. Regardless of who is providing the support, it’s important to have tightly regulated conditions to protect against potential hazards related to mismanagement of medications.

Effective medication management largely impacts the independence of patients. The Second Guiding Principle of Medication Management in the Community, states that patients should be encouraged to safely manage their own medications for as long as possible. By providing medication support and encouraging self-administration, we can delay the need for patients to be admitted to hospitals and residential aged care facilities, while also improving their well-being and sense of self proficiency.

Dose Administration Aids (DAAs) such as the Webster-pak® medication pack, play an important role in medication management as they prompt and assist the user to take their medications correctly and on time. The key benefits of the Webster-pak medication pack include a colour patient photo, brightly coloured dosage times, individual blisters, a full list of medicines, and large fonts – also available in the patient’s native language. These carefully designed features prompt the patient or care provider when to take each medication.

Safety and quality guidelines dictate that unless care providers are registered nurses or supervised by a registered nurse, they are not able to administer, but only prompt and assist in the self-administration of medication. This is where DAAs, such as the Webster-pak® medication pack, are valuable as they eliminate the need for care providers to make clinical decisions around medication administration. With the help of the Webster-pak®, medication management is simplified to prompt and assist practices in line with correct medication support guidelines.

DAAs such as the Webster-pak®, satisfy the extended Rights of Medication Support by ensuring administration;

• To the Right Person
• By the Right Route (mouth, eye, ear, skin)
• Of the Right Number of Tablets
• At the Right Time
• Accompanied by the Right Documentation

The Webster-pak® goes further to also address the Rights of Medication Administration that only Registered Nurses are qualified to complete to ensure the;

• Right Medication
• Right Dose

The Webster-pak® simplifies the process of taking medications as its features address all the above criteria for safe administration. According to the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation (ANMF), all DAAs must be tamper proof and checked by a pharmacist, which means the integrity of the doctor’s medication order remains unchanged and safe for the patient. It also means it does not require a registered nurse onsite to check the correct medication and dosage before administration. To reduce risk of medication mismanagement or incorrect administration, you need to eliminate the need for care providers to make any clinical decisions when assisting their patients. DAAs achieve this by addressing all rights of medication support and administration. By using a Webster-pak®, all care providers – even those without training such as family members, can prompt and assist the administration of medicines of the right amount, at the right time.

An effective medication management plan makes use of DAAs in line with a Home Medication Review by the Doctor. A Home Medication Review maintains best practices of administration, compliance and storage of medicines. The full management process also includes the use of a signing sheet for documenting when medication was given, and a PocketProfile™ to ensure a full list of all medications a patient is taking is readily available for all care providers.

In line with the Home Medications Review, the capacity of the individual to self-administer and manage their own medications must constantly be assessed. When reviewing the capacity of the individual, we determine the extent of their abilities and make a judgement on the degree of external assistance the individual needs to maintain safe medication management. It is important to note that with a DAA system such as the Webster-pak®, safe management can be maintained at all levels of capability. Whether the patient can fully self-administer, if they need a family member or care provider, or even a registered nurse to assist them, Webster-pak® allows you to administer the correct medication at the correct time.

At every possible opportunity patient independence must be protected by encouraging and supporting individuals to self-administer their medication. When safe medication management practices such as Webster-pak® DAAs are in place, we can maintain the independence of elderly people and reduce the risk of hospitalization due to incorrect management of their medications.

Learn more about the Webster-pak® medication pack or call 1800 244 358 now to speak to our Professional Services team.

Attendant Care Industry Association. (2008). Administration of Oral Medication in the Community by Attendant Care Support Workers.

Australian Pharmaceutical Advisory Council. (2006). Guiding Principles for Medication Management in the Community. Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing.

Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation. (2013). Nursing Guidelines: Management of Medicines in Aged Care. Available at http://anmf.org.au/documents/reports/Management_of_Medicines_Guidelines_2013.pdf

Lorraine Poulos & Associates. (2020). Medication Management in Home Care. [Video Webinar]

Pharmaceutical Society of Australia. (2019). Medicine Safety: Take Care. Available at                                                                                                                                            https://www.psa.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/PSA-Medicine-Safety-Report.pdf