The Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS), the Alzheimer’s Society, Patients Association and Care England have called for a pharmacist to take charge of the entire system of medicines use within every care home.

The campaign follows a new RPS report, ‘The Right Medicine – Improving Care in Care Homes’, which concludes that pharmacistled medicine reviews in care homes could not only improve safety for elderly residents but also save the NHS £135 million a year.

Sandra Gidley, RPS English Board chair, said: “Care home residents take an average of seven medicines a day, with some taking double or treble this amount. The number of drugs prescribed by hospital, community and out of hours care for multiple conditions can quickly mount up. "Without a regular review of what’s still needed, this cocktail of drugs can cause poor health, a lower quality of life and costly unnecessary admissions to hospital.”

In support of the campaign, Pharmacy Voice has made a series of recommendations to the Government, including the formation of a commissioning framework for pharmacies providing care home services.