HC-One Scotland and the Care Inspectorate have completed a project to reduce the use of inappropriate psychoactive medication for people living with dementia.

The rollout of the ‘Reducing Inappropriate Psychoactive Medication For People Living with Dementia’ project was initiated after Katy Jenks, dementia care manager (nursing) at HC-One, sought advice from Dr David Marshall, senior improvement adviser (Pharmacy) at the Health and Social Care Improvement Team in the Care Inspectorate.

The discussion was in response to HC-One Scotland care home managers experiencing some challenges with getting medications reviewed, with some care homes finding they were caught in the middle between their GP and mental health services. This meant that some residents could be on medicines they no longer needed. The project also looked at reducing the reliance of staff on using medicines as a first line approach to managing symptoms.

Jenks said: “It was a very inspirational project to cohost with the Care Inspectorate, watching frontline staff embrace a new way of working that had positive impacts on people in our care and wanting to share this with others reminded why I wanted to be a nurse and work in dementia care.

“They embraced finding the ‘why’ for behaviours and adapt care so that medication was only ever a last resort resulting on better quality of life outcomes for people in our care and improved job satisfaction for staff who work in these homes.” 

Findings from the project will feature in the government’s 10-year delivery plan for its new Dementia Strategy.