- Reference Number: HEY1079/2025
- Departments: Pharmacy, Trustwide - Adult
- Last Updated: 31 July 2025
REFER TO PHARMACY – DISCHARGE MEDICINES SERVICE (DMS)
It is common to have changes made to your regular medicines or new medicines started during your hospital admission.
The hospital pharmacy team can help to ensure that you receive further advice and support with your medicines when you leave hospital.
WHAT IS REFER TO PHARMACY Discharge medicines service (DMS)?
Discharge Medicines Service (DMS) is an essential service all community pharmacies provide to patients who would benefit from extra support related to their medicines.
The Discharge Medicines Service (DMS) increases communication across different care settings.
It creates an important link between the hospital and your community pharmacy (chemist) by sharing information about your medicines on discharge.
HOW CAN REFER TO PHARMACY – discharge Medicines Service HELP YOU?
- Using the information in the referral your community pharmacist will compare your medicines at discharge to those you were taking before admission to hospital.
- When a new prescription is issued by the GP the community pharmacist will check you are taking the medications you should be taking after discharge from hospital.
- A consultation with your community pharmacist, yourself and/or carer will help ensure you understand the medicines you should now be taking.
Your community pharmacist is an expert in medicines and can help support your knowledge and understanding and will:
- Discuss any new medicines
- Explain what your medicines are for
- Explain how best to take your medicines
- Explain any side-effects you need to be aware of
- Review all the medicines that you are taking
- Address any questions you may have about your medicines
HOW DOES REFER TO PHARMACY – Discharge Medicines service work?
- During your hospital admission, the hospital pharmacy team will ask if you would like a referral to your community pharmacy
- Once we have obtained your CONSENT, the pharmacy team will record your chosen community pharmacy and start the DMS process
- Your chosen community pharmacy will receive a digital referral and a copy of your discharge information including dose changes, stopped medicines and new medicines started
- The digital referral is sent via a secure system between the hospital and your community pharmacy
Discharge Service Criteria for referral
Patients who would benefit from the service include:
- Age over 65 years
- Use compliance aids e.g. NOMAD
- Take more than 5 long-term medicines
- Changes to their medicines
- New medicines started
- Taking high-risk or critical medicines e.g. anticoagulants
This list is not exhaustive.
The hospital pharmacy team will assess your discharge prescription to confirm if you would benefit from this service
Useful Contact Numbers and Websites
Hull Royal Infirmary Pharmacy Tel: 01482 311665 / Tel: 01482 311668
Monday to Friday 8.30am to 6.00pm
Saturday 10.00am to 5.00pm
Sunday 10.00am to 4.00pm
Castle Hill Hospital Pharmacy Tel: 01482 624100 / Tel: 01482 623278
Monday to Friday 8.30am to 6.00pm
Saturday 10.00am to 5.00pm
Sunday 10.00am to 4.00pm
NHS Website: www.nhs.uk
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If you need to go back into hospital, remember if possible, to take an
up to date list of your current medications
This service is supported and working in partnership with Community Pharmacy Humber and Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust.S
General Advice and Consent
Most of your questions should have been answered by this leaflet, but remember that this is only a starting point for discussion with the healthcare team.
Consent to treatment
Before any doctor, nurse or therapist examines or treats you, they must seek your consent or permission. In order to make a decision, you need to have information from health professionals about the treatment or investigation which is being offered to you. You should always ask them more questions if you do not understand or if you want more information.
The information you receive should be about your condition, the alternatives available to you, and whether it carries risks as well as the benefits. What is important is that your consent is genuine or valid. That means:
- you must be able to give your consent
- you must be given enough information to enable you to make a decision
- you must be acting under your own free will and not under the strong influence of another person
Information about you
We collect and use your information to provide you with care and treatment. As part of your care, information about you will be shared between members of a healthcare team, some of whom you may not meet. Your information may also be used to help train staff, to check the quality of our care, to manage and plan the health service, and to help with research. Wherever possible we use anonymous data.
We may pass on relevant information to other health organisations that provide you with care. All information is treated as strictly confidential and is not given to anyone who does not need it. If you have any concerns please ask your doctor, or the person caring for you.
Under the General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018 we are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of any information we hold about you. For further information visit the following page: Confidential Information about You.
If you or your carer needs information about your health and wellbeing and about your care and treatment in a different format, such as large print, braille or audio, due to disability, impairment or sensory loss, please advise a member of staff and this can be arranged.
This leaflet has been produced by the Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust and is available as a download:
Download the “Refer to Pharmacy Discharge Medicines Service (DMS)” leaflet