Timesaving tips for carers responsible for managing client medication

We love sharing new innovations that we think could benefit our carer community so we're delighted to introduce you to PillTime, whose online prescription service ticks all the boxes when it comes to convenient medication management. 

If a carer's role also includes arranging medication for their clients, they'll know firsthand just how vital it is to ensure medication is taken correctly and consistently.  It is a responsibility that can take up significant time each day. Time that detracts from the one-to-one attention they could give to their clients. 

In the last few years, there has been a considerable progression in the way pharmacy services are offered in the UK, with many advances in the way medication can be prescribed, consulted upon, and delivered.

Most carers will be more than familiar with their local community pharmacy and the supporting role that it provides but just as we’ve seen transformations in the way we buy our fashion, our groceries and other household items, the presence of online pharmacies has risen to offer further benefits in expertise, convenience and accessibility.

PillTime explained

PillTime is an online pharmacy that works in partnership with the NHS to deliver prescriptions direct to patient’s homes and helps to make medication management easier than ever.

What makes PillTime's service unique is that they organise medication into clearly labelled, easy to open, dose specific pouches and deliver a twenty-eight-day medication cycle to a patient's home, free of charge. 

The pill pouches are organised on a roll, in the order they need to be taken. Each pouch is labelled with the dose, the day and the time it needs to be taken – this can be specified individually to the patient, for example 'Friday lunchtime'. 

PillTime uses robotic technology at its on-site dispensary in Bristol to produce and fill pouches more quickly and safely than traditional chemist trays. This is all done under the supervision of their experienced pharmacists, who double-check the contents before it is sent out.

This pharmacy innovation means it can easily identify any error in medication dispensing (for example, if the pill is cracked, or human error). So, you get the doses you need, without any error or hassle and are less likely to make mistakes when taking the medication at home.

PillTime can also dispense items that don’t fit into a pouch, such as inhalers or creams.

The benefits of pouches

Carers who have medication management responsibilities for their clients will know and understand how difficult it can be to ensure their clients adhere to their medication routine and the time and stress that the process can regularly create. 

As the range and management of medication becomes more and more diverse and complex the process is becoming more and more of a daily challenge. Almost 7 million people in the UK now take five or more different medications daily and a quarter of people aged 85 and over at least eight. It can be confusing to keep track and it’s an unfortunate fact that half of these people regularly miss or don’t follow their prescription as they should.

Further difficulties can be created with the use of dosette boxes and the time required to count and divide tablets, a familiar challenge for all carers.

With medication divided and labelled into pouches the PillTime service removes the need for dosette boxes altogether and creates significant increases in medication adherence. This in turn helps to save NHS costs by reducing the need for GP time and the volume of medication that needs to be disposed of.

What it means for carers who manage their client's medication

If a carer's duties include managing a client's medication, the PillTime service not only helps to provide clients with the reassurance that they are taking the right dose at the right time, it also helps to enhance their feeling of independence as they are able to manage the pouches themselves.

Perhaps most importantly it gives peace of mind that medication is being correctly adhered to and the stress and time of arranging tablets is taken away. This gives the carer additional time to be able to focus on their clients.

If you would like to find out more about the PillTime service, then you can find information and sign up via here or call 0800 042 03 30 between 9 - 5pm or alternatively email care@pilltime.co.uk. If you'd like to refer a client to PillTime you can do so by clicking here.