While you are in hospital, we have a system to allow you to use the medicines you bring in from home on the wards/units (known as patients own drugs – PODs).
On admission please remember to bring with you all of your medicines you have at home. If you couldn’t or forgot we can ask a relative/carer to bring them in to hospital for you, with your permission
Some of the benefits of bringing your medicines into hospital are:
- It allows you to continue with familiar medicines
- It helps us to know what you are currently taking so we can make sure any new medicines prescribed are safe to be used with those that you are already taking
- It makes it easier to ensure that regular medicines are uninterrupted
- It reduces wastage of medicines
- It avoids confusion if any medicines are changed whilst in hospital
The nursing staff will take your medicines away for safe-keeping and administer the doses whenever they are due. Any medicines used on the ward will be for your treatment only. If you do not want us to give you your medicines on the ward please discuss any objections with the ward team on admission.
What type of medicines should I bring in to hospital?
If you bring in your medicines from home, you will need to bring in all the medicines you currently take. Please bring in your medicines in their original bottles/boxes. This may include:
- Tablets or capsules
- Inhalers and nebules
- Liquid medicines
- Eye and/or eardrops
- Creams or ointments
- Nasal sprays and drops
- Patches
- Injections
- Suppositories or pessaries
- Vitamins and minerals
- Contraceptive pill or Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT)
- Food supplements
- Any other items prescribed by your doctor
- Any item you buy from a chemist or from an herbal shop
A member of the nursing or pharmacy team will check your medicines as it may be necessary to dispose of some of your medicines, if they are out of date or you are no longer prescribed them. Any medicines assessed as unsuitable for use, will be destroyed unless you have any objections, following discussion with you.
What do I do if I have any concerns about my own medicines being used?
Please feel free to speak to the nurse in charge of the ward if:
- you do not wish to use your own medicines whilst on the ward
- you do not wish to have any medicines assessed as unsuitable to be destroyed
- you have any problems with your medicines
What happens with my medicines when I go home?
When you are discharged from the hospital, we will try to send you home with the medicines you brought in from home. But this may not be possible if:
- you have used the supply whilst in hospital or
- your medications have been changed whilst you have been in hospital
If this is the case you will be given a new supply of medicines to take home. You may find that you have a mixture of some of your own medicines and some that have been supplied by the hospital.
L975, V2, 23/01/2020 (Archive: 23/01/2023)
