Safety of medicines delivered by homecare companies

Delivery of specialised medicines through homecare companies can help transform the lives of those with conditions requiring regular treatment and monitoring.1 However, the scope and quality of surveillance of medicines delivered in this way in the UK are currently not good enough to provide the protection that patients should expect.

The two routes through which NHS patients have traditionally received medicines are hospital based specialist services and primary care. In the mid-1990s, the UK government opened up a third route, homecare services, to supply medicines directly to patients with long term conditions such as multiple sclerosis, or those requiring complex treatments such as peritoneal renal replacement therapy. NHS hospital doctors prescribe these medications, but they are delivered and sometimes administered directly to patients at home by commercial homecare providers rather than the patient making regular trips to the hospital or collecting them …