A quality improvement project to increase self-administration of medicines in an acute hospital

Quality problem or issue A patient survey found significantly fewer patients reported they had self-administered their medicines while in hospital (20% of 100 patients) than reported that they would like to (44% of 100). We aimed to make self-administration more easily available to patients who wanted it. Initial assessment We conducted a failure, modes and effects analysis, collected baseline data on four wards and carried out observations. Choice of solution Our initial assessment suggested that the main areas we should focus on were raising patient awareness of self-administration, changing the patient assessment process and creating a storage solution for medicines being self-administered. We developed new patient information leaflets and posters and a doctor’s assessment form using Plan–Do–Study–Act cycles. We developed initial designs for a storage solution. Implementation We piloted the new materials on three wards; the fourth withdrew due to staff shortages. Evaluation Following collection of baseline data, we continued to collect weekly data. We found that the proportion of patients who wished to self-administer who reported that they were able to do so, significantly increased from 41% (of 155 patients) to 66% (of 118 patients) during the study, despite a period when the hospital was over capacity. Lessons learned Raising and maintaining healthcare professionals’ awareness of self-administration can greatly increase the proportion of patients who wish to self-administer who actually do so. Healthcare professionals prefer multi-disciplinary input into the assessment process.