Recommendations for organisations

Consider the prescribing advice within this guidance alongside local prescribing and clinical data to plan, resource and drive quality improvement and prescribing initiatives.

Nominate local leads/champions – one medical and one within or with strong links to medicines management teams, or equivalent, to drive delivery and recommendations within this guidance.

Consider and engage a whole system approach to delivering quality improvements in prescribing

• Ensure primary and secondary care are informed to support continuity of care and overall goals of reviewing and minimising inappropriate prescribing, especially given the significant influence of secondary care.
• Work with third sector (non-medicalised) organisations to further develop support and capacity for self-management.

Secondary care specialists should ensure that prescribing records reconcile with the individual's current prescription and review what medicines they are taking. It is known that prescribing discrepancies can occur between primary and secondary care records.^86-88 Where appropriate, specialists should access, check and update current prescribing information using the individual’s Emergency Care Summary.

Secondary care should establish and communicate changes in antidepressant prescriptions started in hospital, stating intended treatment duration or where a drug has been reduced or stopped, including the rationale for the prescriber’s actions.

Engage with local prescribing support teams, who have a wealth of experience improving the quality of prescribing using local and national measures, datasets and tools.