Sharing information

Care homes should have a written process that staff should follow, which tells them how they should share information about medicines people are taking. The staff should have training on how to follow the policy.

If someone moves from one care setting to another (for example, they are discharged from hospital back into a care home), all information about their medicines, including who will be prescribing them in the future, should be sent with them so that everyone involved in their care has the information and mistakes aren't made.

When a person visits a health professional outside the care home (for example, a GP), care home staff should follow rules on confidentiality and only share enough information to make sure the person is safe.