What should we be doing

NHS Improvement � Delivering tomorrow�s improvement agenda for the NHS

What should we be doing?

Managing COPD: what should we be doing?

The Department of Health in its consultation on a strategy for COPD recommends the following as key elements of ongoing care:

structured reviews to optimise the management of every person with COPD

anticipatory management using disease registers and risk stratification to identify and target individuals whose care could be improved

the development of active, personalised management plans to optimise treatment and outcomes

planning for, assessment and management of exacerbations, maximising support at home and minimising need for hospital admission (including access to Out of Hours provision, integration of health and social care and the potential for use of patient record cards)

comprehensive information for patients to improve their understanding of their condition and how to manage it, including advice on smoking cessation and physical activity.

COPD - prevention and early identification

This online toolkit aims to support health professionals with the prevention and early identification of COPD.

Medicines management

Ensuring patients are on the right medication and optimising their use of medicines is an essential part of managing long term conditions, including COPD. It is likely that there is significant scope across the NHS to improve medicines management and use, and there are a number of things that can be done to reduce waste and improve cost and clinical effectiveness.

This article by Shaun Green, Associate Director of Primary Care Development/Head of Medicines Management at NHS Somerset includes some top tips for reducing waste including:

Patient's long-term condition not improving? - Consider and discuss with the patient whether they are actually taking what you originally prescribed before adding another medicine or increasing dose

Spring is here so 'Spring clean your repeat screen' - Empower staff to review and remove repeats not ordered in the last 12 months (and flag up to the GP to check the clinical consequences). Use your practice system to identify patients over or under ordering their medication

Talk to your local medicines management team on how they can support you to communicate non verbally (posters, leaflets, radio etc) with patients to reduce wasted medicines

Lung Improvement