The NHS Discharge Medicines Service (NHS DMS) is a new essential service for community pharmacy contractors. As an essential service, it must be provided by all community pharmacy contractors.
The service has been established to:
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ensure better communication of changes to a patient’s medication when they leave hospital
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reduce incidences of avoidable harm caused by medicines
By referring patients to community pharmacy on discharge with information about medication changes made in hospital, community pharmacy can support patients to improve outcomes, prevent harm and reduce readmissions.
To claim payment for the NHS DMS, submit a record for each patient you receive a discharge referral for via the Manage Your Service portal. We’ll collate your NHS DMS claims ready for you to submit them at the end of each month with a declaration.
For more information about NHS DMS, visit NHS England's website. The resources available include:
- guidance for community pharmacy contractors to support provision of the service
- a cross-sector toolkit setting out the shared responsibility and roles of clinical teams across community pharmacy, NHS trusts and primary care networks in supporting medicines reconciliation on discharge
- training materials for staff across all healthcare settings making referrals, delivering or supporting delivery of the service.