Safer management of medicines training for social care staff

A new elearning programme to help social care staff safely handle and administer medicines has been added to the NHS Learning Hub.

Focusing on patient safety, teamwork and providing person centred care, the four modules look at the risks involved in handling medicines and how to make medicines use safer for everyone.

The programme also explains some of the differences between handling medicines in residential care homes compared with nursing care homes.

Developed by NHS England, the four modules cover:

• Module 1: Introduction to Handling Medicines Safely
• Module 2: Administering Medication
• Module 3: Ordering, receiving, storing and disposal of medicines
• Module 4: Understanding Medicines

Each module takes between 30 and 60 minutes to complete and are aimed primarily at social care staff. However, informal carers, such as unpaid carers helping a family member, neighbour, or friend, should find the module on Administering Medication useful.

By the end of the programme learners will be able to describe their role and responsibilities in relation to managing medicines and describe the process of ordering, storing, administering, and disposing of medicines in different social care settings. They will also be able to describe the safe processes for the general use of medicines in social care settings.

For more information and to access the programme, please visit the Safe Management of Medicines for Social Care Staff programme page.