Discharge Medicines Service (DMS)
The Discharge Medicines Service (DMS) became a new Essential Service within the Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework (CPCF) on Monday 15th February 2021. See the Community Pharmacy England DMS page here for further information about this service.
Please find below our DMS Service Summary.
The following NHS Trusts are digitally enabled to send DMS referrals to community pharmacies:
- Airedale General Hospital
- Bradford Royal Infirmary
- Calderdale & Huddersfield
- Leeds Teaching Hospitals Trust
- Leeds & York Partnership Trust
- The Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust
- South West Yorkshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust
Just a reminder that patients are not required to have their medicines dispensed in a compliance aid to be eligible for a DMS referral. The NHS Trust can refer any appropriate patient who would benefit from extra support with their prescribed medicines following discharge. This may include those patients taking high-risk medicines, those who have had changes made whilst in hospital, and those who have been prescribed new medicines whilst in hospital.
Thank you for your support in providing the NHS Discharge Medicine Service and the contribution you make in supporting our population to live healthier lives.
Don’t forget, the New Medicine Service (NMS) can also be offered following a DMS referral where clinically appropriate and the patient would get additional benefit from provision of the service, provided the medication is listed as included in the NMS and the patient condition or therapy area the medication is prescribed for is on the NMS conditions list. Further information is available on the CPE DMS FAQ page here.
Resources
NHSE&I DMS Launch Letter to Pharmacy Teams
PharmOutcomes DMS Pharmacy Reporting to MYS Guide
How to Claim
Claim Period Extended to Three Months
The claim period for the DMS will be extended to three months in response to a request by Community Pharmacy England (CPE).
From 1st July 2024, the extended claim period will commence, bringing DMS in line with most of the Advanced Services. CPE has provided an example to clarify the new claim and payment timeline for pharmacy owners. See here.
Claims for DMS must be made monthly via the MYS portal. Claims for DMS are not currently automatic and need to be made manually. See the document below for details:
Useful Patient Resources
Patient Video: Meet Mo – How pharmacy teams can help you if your medicines are changed in hospital – https://vimeo.com/258100520.
Patient Leaflet: The Discharge Medicines Service
Bulletins
Community Pharmacy West Yorkshire has put together a series of bulletins, detailing the required actions ALL community pharmacy contractors should have already taken to ensure that their staff are competent to deliver this service. The bulletins can be found below:
Discharge Medicines Service (DMS) – Bulletin 5
Discharge Medicines Service (DMS) – Bulletin 4
Discharge Medicines Service (DMS) – Bulletin 3
Discharge Medicines Service (DMS) – Bulletin 2
Discharge Medicines Service (DMS) – Bulletin 1
Leeds – DMS referrals from Virtual Frailty Ward
Leeds have set up a pathway that means suitable patients discharged from the virtual frailty ward will be referred for the Discharge Medicines Service (DMS) through PharmOutcomes to their community pharmacy. This will lead to an increase in the number of patients who are referred for a DMS. To help with understanding what the virtual frailty ward is please see this briefing.
Leeds Virtual Frailty Ward Community Care Beds DMS Briefing Sept 2021
Last Updated: 12th July 2024
