Optimising Medication Management for People Transferring Between Hospital and Aged Residental Care

The Primary Care Task Force (PCTF), working with clinical leaders across Waitaha Canterbury primary, secondary, and community care, has completed a review of medication management for patients transferring from hospital to aged residential care (ARC) facilities. This work aims to strengthen patient safety, continuity of care, and operational efficiency during these transitions.

This review identified significant opportunities to improve current discharge medication processes, which rely heavily on manual, paper-based systems. Recommendations focus on supporting safer, more reliable medication management and include enhancing the interoperability of IT systems across hospital, primary care, and ARC facilities, clarifying clinical responsibility during the transfer of care, and improving ARC staff’s visibility of medication information to support safe and timely administration.

A collaborative stakeholder group involving clinicians from rural and urban general practices, community pharmacy, secondary care, ARC facilities, and Health New Zealand commissioning provided leadership to the project. The group identified and prioritised 16 recommendations that would contribute to patients receiving seamless, safe care when moving from hospital to ARC facilities, strengthening communication and streamlining workflows between hospital, primary care, and ARC facilities.

PCTF is now working with Health New Zealand to consider these recommendations as part of future planning.

The full report of the Hospital-to-ARC Medication Discharge Discovery Project is available here

For further information about the discovery project or its recommended improvements, please contact Linda Wensley at primarycaretaskforce@pegasus.health.nz