A Report on Supporting Medication Use in Social Care Settings

This report provides a comprehensive overview of medication use within social care settings. It begins by outlining relevant legislation and policies that govern medication management, including acts related to drug misuse, mental capacity, and data protection. The report then details the roles and responsibilities of various individuals involved in medication administration, such as doctors, pharmacists, and those administering medication, emphasizing the importance of clear communication and adherence to guidelines. It also addresses adverse drug reactions and how to identify potential issues. The report further explores different routes of medication administration, various forms of medication presentation, and the equipment used. It emphasizes the importance of accurate record-keeping, safe storage practices, and proper disposal methods for unwanted or unused medications, concluding with a summary of key findings and references.

Supporting the Use of Medication in
Social Care Settings

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
LO 1.................................................................................................................................................1
P1. Legislation and policies....................................................................................................1
LO 2.................................................................................................................................................2
P2. Roles and duties...............................................................................................................2
LO 3.................................................................................................................................................2
P3. Changes to a person's physical or mental prosperity that may show an advance response to
drug.........................................................................................................................................2
P4. Routes to administer medication......................................................................................3
P5. Various forms of presenting medication..........................................................................4
P6. Equipment used in the administration of medication.......................................................4
P7. Important data which needs to be recorded......................................................................4
P8. Safe storage of various medication..................................................................................5
P9. Various methods to dispose unwanted or un-used medication safely..............................5
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................5
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................6

INTRODUCTION
Services provided to the people of a society or community to make sure the good health
and well-being comes under social care. There are various social service providers such as rehab
centers, hospitals, etc. The present report will identify the different policies that govern or
control the utilization and legal classification system of medication. The common types of
medication involved in the social care will also be identified in this report. In addition to this, the
roles and responsibilities related to social care will be discussed along with the methods to
promote individual rights to manage medication.
LO 1
P1. Legislation and policies
Government has developed various laws and policies in order to manage, control and
monitor the effective use of medication in social care settings. Different laws and policies which
are responsible for governing the utilization of medication are listed as below:
1. The Misuse of Drugs Regulation Act 1973
2. The Misuse of Drugs Act 1971
3. The Mental capacity Act 2005
4. Health and Safety at Work Act
5. The Data Protection Act 1998 and Equability legislation
The legitimate grouping framework for solution
All the characterization of solution are identified with the drug's act 1968 (Addada, Moss
and Crook, 2018). It is valuable to have great information and comprehension of normal kinds of
drugs while working with it. Controlled medications are solution on drugs, PO – Pharmacy just
are the prescriptions which are just acquired at the drug store. General deals list (GSL) can be
acquired from any shop. Approaches and procedures which are created are to ensure that every
one of the laws or guidelines are being taken after so the general population inside the social care
setting are sheltered and happy with the standard or nature of administrations gave by the social
care setting, for example, clinics, mind focus and so on. The prescription related issues can be
imparted to the medication control administration or officers. It is critical to take after the
different laws and approaches which are built up with respect to the medicine in the social care
segment.
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LO 2
P2. Roles and duties
There are diverse parts of every individual associated with the prescription as depicted
underneath:
1. The Doctor's part is to comprehend the drug needs of a patient. It is the obligation of the
specialists to endorse the most suitable and viable prescription with the correct dosage,
sort and sum to the patient (Turner and Clegg, 2014).
2. The Chemist's part is to circulate the medicines as said on the prescription. Their part is
to guarantee that the drugs they give to individuals are right and same as said on the
remedy. It they discover any slip-up or blunder, they should counsel same to the
specialist. Each prescription which has been given to the patients must be recorded on a
sheet and should be agreed upon.
3. The prescriber ought to be legally prepared and refresh themselves as required by
different expert bodies that they might be associated with. Solutions ought to be plainly
composed to guarantee that the patient comprehend symptoms and additionally, the
purpose behind remedy is given to them. They ought to likewise know the length to take
the pharmaceutical. Medicine must be given to the patient considering different factors,
for example: patient's advantage or cost. The Prescriber must be comfortable with the
most refreshed adaptation of British Binational Formulary (BNF) which is known as the
prescriber's book of scriptures.
4. The individual who is administering must be legitimately prepared and ought to take after
safe arrangement of work with understanding negative impacts of medications.
LO 3
P3. Changes to a person's physical or mental prosperity that may show an advance response to
drug
Unfriendly medication response (ADR) is a sort of unfavorable impact. It can be an
optional impact of pharmaceutical that is normally unwanted and vary from the restorative
outcomes of medicine. It can likewise be a reaction to a drug that is unintended and toxic as well
as additionally happen in dosses for finding, treatment or prophylaxis. The term symptom is
frequently utilized as a part of place of ADR. However, symptoms can be among the five sorts of
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ADR which are toxic response, quirky reaction, extreme touchiness and antagonistic
pharmaceutical communication. A symptom is a common and expected response that happens
with an anticipated recurrence and can speak to an antagonistic outcome. Issues related to
medication can take any compose and may not promptly be viewed as a symptom of medication
treatment. It is basic to consider the progressions of the adjustments in circumstance may be
affected by solution (Dijk, Weesie and Vervloet, 2016). In the event that an inhabitant is
exchanged to intense care inside the most recent three months, encountered a change in condition
or has manifestations and signs as specified beneath there can be the odds of medicine symptom
-
 Behavioral changes or distressed behavior and unusual behavior patterns
 Unexplained or spontaneous bleeding and bruising
 Bowel dysfunction including constipation or diarrhea
 Unplanned weight gain or loss, Anorexia
 Dysphagia or swallowing difficulty
 Electrolyte or Fluid imbalance and dehydration
 Excessive sedation, Insomnia or Sleep disturbance
P4. Routes to administer medication
There are different routes to administer medication related to a patient according to the
wants or needs of the treatment and the mode to administer medication. Various routes are
described as below:
1. Medication can be administered through PO which is the most common route. PO means
to administer medication by oral ways in them mouth for example tablet, syrup or
capsule.
2. Another route is Sub-lingual form which is used in the medication. It is done by keeping
medicines under the patient's tongue.
3. Topical medication is another route used in the administration of medication through
patient's skin. For example: applying cream or ointment (Adams and et.al, 2015).
4. Intramuscular medication is also a well-known route to administer medication. In this
route, the dosage is injected directly into the muscles of the patient by the doctor or nurse.
5. Dosage is also administered into the veins of the patient's body which is known as
Intravenous route.
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P5. Various forms of presenting medication
Various forms of medication are listed as below -
1. Tablets
2. Capsule
3. Powder
4. Drop
5. Inhalants
6. Skin preparations and many more (Bible and et.al, 2017)
P6. Equipment used in the administration of medication
In order to administer medication, there are various equipment used in the social care
settings which are listed as below:
1. Glass
2. Dropper
3. Medication Tot
4. Syringe
5. Cotton
6. 2.5 or 5 ml spoons for liquid medication
The dosage to a patient is given mainly through syringe or oral means, therefore, the most
used equipment in the administration of medication are syringe, glass and spoon which can help
a patient to acquire medication effectively and easily.
P7. Important data which needs to be recorded
 Name and address of patient
 Date of birth
 Prescription and dispensing date
 Prescription reference number as generated by the dispensing software
 Prescriber's name and address
Above data or information is important to be recorded for resolving any error or issue in
the future.
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P8. Safe storage of various medication
Most of the medications can get damaged by exposure to heat, sunlight or moisture, in
order to preserve store medicines safely. It is important to ensure that the medicines are not kept
under direct sunlight or heat and at a place with high moisture level (Harris and White, 2018).
The medicines should be kept in its original container to preserve it, refrigerator are the most
commonly used storage for medicines. The medicines require cold and dry place for which
refrigerator is the best place. Each and every organization in the social care setting needs to make
sure that they are keeping the medicines safely to make sure that they are not damaged.
P9. Various methods to dispose unwanted or un-used medication safely
1. Each and every unwanted or unused medicine must be mixed with an unpalatable
component such as litter, dirt, kitty, etc.
2. The mixture must be placed in a container such as a plastic bag or sealed paper bag.
3. The container must be dumped into the household trash.
CONCLUSION
The above report concluded that social care is highly dependent upon effective and
proper utilization of medication. The medication assists in the treating the patient and improve
their health. The report determined the various laws and legislation are imposed by the
government to control and monitor the medication. The changes to a person's mental and
physical well-being are also explained in the study. The roles and responsibilities of an
individual within the administration of medication are also described in the present report.
Furthermore, the equipment used in administration of medication and methods to disposed
unwanted and unused medicines are also described in this report. In addition to this the report
analysis the various data which is needed to be recorded in medication.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Adams, R.P., Barton, G., Bhattacharya, D., Grassby, P.F., Holland, R., Howe, A., Norris, N.,
Shepstone, L. and Wright, D.J., 2015. Supervised pharmacy student-led medication
review in primary care for patients with type 2 diabetes: a randomised controlled pilot
study. BMJ open, 5(11), p.e009246.
Addada, H., Moss, M. and Crook, J., 2018. P21 The level of compliance with medication
reconciliation on discharge for paediatric patients at hospital.
Bible, L.J., Casper, K.A., Seifert, J.L. and Porter, K.A., 2017. Assessment of self-care and
medication adherence in individuals with mental health conditions. Journal of the
American Pharmacists Association, 57(3), pp.S203-S210.
Dijk, L., Weesie, Y. and Vervloet, M., 2016. The impact of human and social resources on
medication and lifestyle adherence: a sociological perspective. European Health
Psychologist, 18(S), p.385.
Gilmartin-Thomas, J.F.M., Smith, F., Wolfe, R. and Jani, Y., 2017. A comparison of medication
administration errors from original medication packaging and multi-compartment
compliance aids in care homes: A prospective observational study. International journal
of nursing studies, 72, pp.15-23.
Harris, J. and White, V., 2018. A dictionary of social work and social care. Oxford University
Press.
Turner, G. and Clegg, A., 2014. Best practice guidelines for the management of frailty: a British
Geriatrics Society, Age UK and Royal College of General Practitioners report. Age and
ageing, 43(6), pp.744-747.
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