Access to urgently required medication during the Out of Hours period following a telephone consultation with a primary care service Other
Conditions
Interventions
This feasibility study uses a mixed-methods approach, combining qualitative and quantitative data collection to evaluate the implementation of a remotely controlled medication dispensing machine (REME
Sponsors
Bangor University
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
All
Inclusion criteria
Inclusion criteria: 1. Patients, parents, guardians, or carers, who have been allocated medication via the machine 2. Community members who choose to take part in community engagement events 3. NHS Staff who have been involved in the implementation or use of the machine 4. Stakeholders with an interest in getting urgently required medication to patients will be eligible. These will include representatives from Welsh government, the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, Community Pharmacy Wales, the Royal College of GPs, and British Medical Association 5. Industry representatives involved in developing and/or distributing the machine
Exclusion criteria
Exclusion criteria: 1. NHS staff who have not been involved in the project 2. Stakeholders who are not involved with, or able to influence, the provision of urgently required medication 3. Patients, parents, guardians, or carers who do not consent to participate
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame |
|---|---|
| 1. Feasibility & Acceptability 1.1.Proportion of patients, parents, guardians, or carers completing the survey measured using automatically texted Microsoft Forms survey sent via the REMEDY machine software (machine usage logs used to track completion rates) at all patient uses of the machine during the 18-month data collection period (Sept 2025 – Mar 2027) 1.2.Patient/carer reported ease of use of REMEDY measured using patient and carer survey (closed Likert-scale and free-text questions on usability and accessibility) at each machine use throughout the 18-month data collection period, with analysis at mid-study and end-of-study 1.3.Willingness to participate in interviews or provide feedback measured using proportion of survey respondents indicating consent to a follow-up interview in the final survey question at time of survey completion (continuous throughout study period) 1.4.Acceptability of REMEDY to staff (clinical, pharmacy, administrative) and stakeholders measured using semi-structured interviews with Out-of-Hours clinicians, pharmacy, and administrative staff (˜10 participants), pharmacy stakeholder interviews (˜10), and regional/national stakeholder interviews analysed thematically using the NASSS framework at mid-implementation (˜6 months post-launch (pharmacy and external stakeholders) and mid- post-implementation (staff regularly using the machine) 2. Safety 2.1.Reported adverse outcomes or challenges (patient survey, interviews) measured using patient/carer survey items on adverse outcomes or difficulties using the REMEDY machine, supplemented by patient and staff interviews at ongoing collection throughout 18-month period with interim (˜9 months) and final analysis 2.2.Examples of harm or near-misses (from interviews, Datix logs, ethnographic observations) measured using triangulation of Datix incident reports, Adastra case records, semi-structured staff and patient interviews, and ethnographic field notes from Out-of-Hours call centres and implem | — |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame |
|---|---|
| There are no secondary outcome measures | — |
Countries
United Kingdom, Wales
Contacts
Public ContactRebecca Payne
Outcome results
None listed