Highly commended - Safe Prescribing Of Direct Oral Anticoagulation: A Collaborative Approach To Minimising Harm From Interacting Medicines (2020)

Nottingham and Nottinghamshire CCG

Project Summary

The Medicines Safety Officers (MSOs) from NHS Nottingham and Nottinghamshire CCG have worked collaboratively with the pharmacy team from the local acute hospital trust to drive forward safety and improve patient care across the prescribing pathway for Direct Oral Anticoagulation (DOACS).

This project was a novel collaborative approach across the Integrated Care System (ICS) in Nottinghamshire to improve the effectiveness and safety of DOAC prescribing by reducing clinically significant drug interactions. The aim of the project was to:

• Identify and review current patients prescribed a DOAC and a strong enzyme inducer across Nottinghamshire.
• Prevent new patients starting on concomitant treatment with a DOAC and strong enzyme inducer.

The primary outcomes of this work are:

• More than 150 patients have been identified on combination therapy. All patients have been reviewed and treatments amended where appropriate supporting a reduction in the population at risk within our region and reducing the probability of readmissions with an associated thrombosis or bleed.
• Collaboration across primary and secondary care is highly effective at reducing the risk of patient harm across the ICS and sharing resources and data optimises this impact.