Anticoagulant Therapy Supply SOP Produced By The NPA, UK

Main Category: Blood / Hematology
Article Date: 18 Apr 2008 - 2:00 PDT

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The NPA has produced a resource for the supply of anticoagulant therapy comprising of a template standard operating procedure (SOP) and guidance notes. It complies with the NPSA recommendations ensuring the supply of anticoagulant medicines is carried out in a safe and efficient way.

'Supplying Anticoagulant Therapy' provides details of the National Patient Safety Agency (NPSA) patient alert "NPSA Alert 18 - Actions that can make Anticoagulant Therapy Safer". Information resources about anticoagulation therapy and a standard template SOP which members can modify to correspond with their own pharmacy, are also included in the resource.

Ruth Wakeman, NPA Information Department Manager said: "The NPA's 'Supplying Anticoagulant Therapy' resource covers the supply of anticoagulant therapy by the pharmacy including prescription receipt, pharmaceutical assessment, interventions and problem solving, assembly and labelling, accuracy checking, transfer to patient and also the supply to care homes. Members are advised to visit the NPA's members' website for more information to ensure they are compliant with NPSA guidance."

The NPA resource comprising of the guidance notes and SOP can be downloaded from the members' area of the website www.npa.co.uk. Although applicable directly to England and Wales, the SOP resource may also be of interest to pharmacy contractors from Scotland and Northern Ireland.

http://www.npa.co.uk