The pharmacy team is an important part of the mental health picture. The role encompasses a range of factors including keeping track of medicines through transfer of care, raising awareness of mental health in the community – by myth busting and tackling stigma – and normalising mental health in the eyes of people with mental health problems and the wider public.

Transfer of care

Between 30 and 70 per cent of patients have either an error or an unintentional change to their medicines when their care is transferred between healthcare settings. It is also possible that messages between healthcare professionals are not received or are badly communicated and issues may not be followed up.

Sometimes a simple conversation is enough to understand a patient’s medicine changes, but other times a patient may not want to talk about their medicines, or is unable to give specific information due to the clinical presentation or mental health condition. In these situations pharmacies will need to work with the wider healthcare team. In particular, note:

NICE gives information on managing risks around the transfer of care for people with mental health conditions in its Transition between community or care home and inpatient mental health settings pathway.