Phone calls to a hospital medicines information helpline: analysis of queries from members of the public and assessment of potential for harm from their medicines.

Objective: To find out what questions the public ask of pharmacists on a hospital medicines information helpline, and to assess the potential for improving individuals' management of medicines through telephone helpline support.

Methods: We analysed consecutive phone calls made by members of the public over 6 months to a hospital pharmacy medicines information helpline. Calls were coded for type of medicine, reason for phoning and any error revealed in the call.

Involving patients in service improvement.

This article describes the experiences of two multidisciplinary teams that took part in a national initiative to improve care through the implementation of research evidence. Both teams worked with patients with chronic illnesses. The patients required regular admissions to hospital for treatment and care, and had reported difficulties when moving between different services.