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QR technology for medicines information
North London pharmacists Anshu Rayan and Yogita Dawda scooped the prize for best use of technology at the Clinical Pharmacy Congress held at Excel, London, 13th-14th May. Their project – Improving medicines information using QR technology – was presented as a poster.
The researchers identified a need for improved access to medicines information amongst patients at Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust (CNWL) and decided to tackle the problem using information videos that are accessed by means of QR codes.
Working together with patients and carers they identified a list of priority topics. This included covid-19 vaccine and high-risk medicines used in mental health – lithium, clozapine, valproate in women of childbearing age). The scripts for the videos were jointly prepared with patients and carers. The videos and QR links were developed in collaboration with Dr James Ohene-Djan and QR Video Solutions.
QR codes were displayed on posters and also on stickers that could be applied to dispensed medicines. The information videos were hosted on a dedicated website. Since the launch at the end of February 2022 there have been more than 3,500 views. The most recent video covers the pregnancy risks associated with valproate and the Valproate Pregnancy Prevention Programme. Data from April 20220 show that the valproate videos were accessed 54 times directly via the website and the QR code for valproate has been scanned 195 times. Feedback from staff and service-users indicates that the videos are helpful and informative.
Further evaluations of the impact of the video information are planned and additional topics are under consideration.
Watch Anshu Rayan and Yogita Dawda talking about this project here.
