Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the standards set by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society’s Professional Standards for Homecare Services in England, published in September 2013, which are embedded into all framework agreement service specifications for providers of homecare medicines services; and in particular, what assessment they have made whether those standards are sufficient regarding (1) delayed deliveries, (2) delayed treatment initiation, and (3) missed doses.

No recent assessment has been made. However, in 2014 the Royal Pharmaceutical Society published the Handbook for Homecare Services in England to aid implementation of the 2013 standards. This identified examples of good practice which may be used by homecare teams to develop robust arrangements for compliance with those standards. A copy of Handbook for Homecare Services in England is attached.

The National Homecare Medicines Committee holds regular meetings with all homecare providers focused on Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for standards based on those contained in Appendix 10 National KPI definitions of the Handbook for Homecare Services in England. These definitions include the monitoring of delayed deliveries, treatment initiation and missed doses. A copy of Appendix 10 National KPI definitions is attached.

In addition, NHS England’s Commercial Medicines Unit hold regular review meetings with contracted homecare providers every three months. Homecare providers are assessed on a monthly basis against the same KPIs. Where these KPIs not met, suppliers are held to account through stakeholder meetings, reporting metrics and face to face meetings to ensure that levels of service are aligned with the relevant professional standards.

The National Homecare Medicines Committee also enacts an escalation process where the relevant homecare provider is required to communicate a summary of the issues, mitigations and expected timescales for recovery to the National Health Service organisations involved. If necessary, the Care Quality Commission and the General Pharmaceutical Council are also informed.