Completing the clinical audit cycle: discharge medication

Describes the process of clinical audit following the introduction of a revised discharge policy. Identifies three key indicators of success regarding hospital supply of discharge medication: the extent to which ward staff and patients have to make personal visits to the pharmacy; the extent to which nursing staff telephone the pharmacy to chase individual prescriptions; and the rate of written complaints from patients. All three measures increased substantially during the four months following the introduction of the policy, compared with the previous four-month period. An action plan focused on changing relevant behaviour of consultants, junior doctors, ward and nursing personnel, patients and pharmacy staff by means of increased awareness of the consequences of their actions. A follow-up study demonstrated substantial reductions in all three measures during a third four-month period.