The Discharge Medicines Service (DMS) becomes a new Essential service that pharmacy contractors will have to provide from 15^th February 2021. NHS Trusts will refer patients to their community pharmacy if they find that they may benefit from having extra support and guidance on changes to their medication.

Specific details on the service and further resources can be found on the PSNC DMS page.

The Discharge Medicines Service (DMS) Manager is currently for users in England only.

The DMS Manager allows users to track and keep an updated record of patient referrals and what stage the referrals are in. It is used for patients that have been in hospital and have had a medication change during their stay.

There are a number of reasons their medication may have changed including inappropriate drugs and drug interactions.

When the pharmacy receives a referral they will have 72 hours to complete stage 1 and no restrictions for stages 2 and 3.

For more information about the requirements and stages of the DMS, click Here

The DMS Manager

To access the DMS Manager, click  and select DMS Manager.

Use the table below as a guide to the options on this screen.

Add a shortcut	To add a shortcut for the DMS module click  next to My Shortcuts and select the appropriate option.
View PMR	If you have a DMS record selected, click View PMR to view the patient’s record.
New Referral	Select this to create a new DMS record.
View Referral	Select this to view an existing DMS record.
Reports	Export or print a report of the DMS Manager screen with the current filters applied.
Filters
Period	Select the date period you want to view. These options can be customised.
From/To	Use these to select the exact dates you want to view.
Patient	Use this to search for a specific patient. Enter the patient’s name or NHS number in this field.
Status	Select one of the following to view DMS records with the selected status: All Outstanding In Progress Completed Stopped
Stage	Select which stage of the DMS record you want the results to show. This option is disabled until the Status field has been changed from All.
Show Deleted Items	Select this to display any deleted records.

Configure the DMS Manager

1. 1. Click  and select Edit Application Settings in Settings..
      The Edit Application screen is displayed.
   2. In the Categories section, select DMS.
      
   3. Use the table below as a guide to the options on this screen.
      

      DMS Enabled	Select this option to enable DMS. For users in England only.
      Print Label Where User Has Active DMS Record	Select this to print a label after dispensing when the patient has a DMS record. This function is disabled by default.
      DMS overdue period (days)	This refers to the number of days a DMS record has not been updated and past this an alert will be displayed when the number is reached. This number is set to 30 by default.
      Prompt to complete next DMS stage	If a patient has an active DMS record, after the medication(s) have been dispensed, a prompt will be displayed asking to complete the next stage. This function is enabled by default.

Add a new referral

1. From the DMS Manager screen, select New Referral.
   The Search Patient screen is displayed.
   
2. On the Search Patient screen, search for and select the required patient.
   • If the selected patient already has a DMS record, an alert will be displayed. Click No to stop the referral or Yes to continue.
3. The New DMS screen is displayed:
   
4. Complete the following sections:
   1. Discharge Advice.
      • Patient Hospital Number: Enter the patient’s NHS number if known.
      • Date Referral Received: Select the date the referral was received.
        The Date Referral Received field is mandatory.
      • Discharging Consultant: Enter if known.
      • Discharge Consultant Contact Details: Enter if known.
      • Patient Discharged Form: Enter the ODS code if known.
      • Referral Received Via: Select the appropriate option.
        The Referral Received Via field is mandatory.
   2. Discharge information.
      • Select Yes or No, and select the appropriate responses as required.
        This is a mandatory section.
   3. Medication.
      • Click Select Medication and either select New Item to add a new medication to the patient’s record or select the appropriate medication(s) and click OK.
      • Select the reason why the medication is on the referral.
        This is a mandatory section.
   4. GP Details.
      • If the details are not already displayed, click Change Prescriber and enter the appropriate prescriber. You will be prompted to update the patient’s PMR.
   5. Pharmacist Details.
      • If the details are not already displayed, click Select Pharmacist and select the appropriate pharmacist.
5. Click Save.
   The three stages required of the DMS will now be displayed. You can learn more about them Here.

ETP Screen

From the ETP screen, any patient’s with an active DMS record will have a purple DMS icon: .

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