Compliance Support, MDS & The Equality Act

Resources:

May 2022

Supporting patients who may need reasonable adjustments (under the Equality Act: 2010) to take their medicines. Guidance on the use of Monitored Dosage Systems (MDS) across Devon.

A set of guiding principles for supporting patients who may need reasonable adjustments to take their medicines has been agreed between key stakeholders in Devon, including the LPC and LMC.

A covering letter and document has been widely circulated across Devon that you can read here.

The West of England Academic Health Science Network (AHSN) working collaboratively with stakeholders are delighted to publish a series of free resources to support appropriate use of Medicines Compliance Aids (MCAs), through promotion of the range of reasonable adjustments and how assessments for adjustments should be undertaken. The use of MCAs were recognised as an important medicines safety issue by the West of England Patient Safety Board and the West of England Medicines Safety Steering group, and an improvement area which the AHSN could support.

Resources to be used by health professionals and to educate patients, carers and families:

Watch this short video where national Polypharmacy Clinical Lead and pharmacist, Clare Howard, discusses our resources and their importance.

The resources aim to promote a culture change around MCAs, through:

  • Raising awareness of the other reasonable adjustments available to support patients take their medicines safely and effectively.
  • Supporting pharmacy teams with decision making about reasonable adjustment eligibility and appropriateness
  • Educating healthcare professionals, patients, carers and the public about available adjustments, and the proper process to obtain them, to support medicines safety based on individual needs.

Find out more about reasonable adjustments and why an MCA may not be the most suitable adjustment for your patients by viewing these resources at www.weahsn.net/mcas

MCA Assessment Form (Portrait)

MCA Decision Tree A4 Poster (No Crops) HIGH-RES