What is this leaflet about?
Sometimes it can be difficult to get the medicines you might need in a hurry, especially at night or at weekends, so it is helpful to have them ready – ‘just in case’. This leaflet explains why you have been given ‘just in case’ medication and how to look after it.
The ‘just in case’ medications you have been prescribed will help your District Nurse and/or GP to act quickly if you cannot take your medications and/or develop symptoms such as pain, sickness, secretions and anxiety/restlessness. These medications are very effective when administered by a small needle under the skin, which many patients find reassuring.
With the ‘just in case’ medication there will be a Subcutaneous ‘As Required’ & Syringe Pump Prescription (SPAR) booklet which is for the use of doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals looking after you. The booklet tells them what medications they can give you, when they need to give it and allows them to record the medication they have given to you and the time they have administered them.
Blackpool Teaching Hospitals, Trinity Hospice, your GP or District Nurse will have authorised its use. Your GP or District Nurse will review if you need its contents on a regular basis.
The ‘just in case’ bag will usually come from a local pharmacy (chemist) who has been authorised to provide them, so it may not come from the pharmacy you usually use. Alternatively, you may be discharged from hospital or Trinity Hospice with a ‘just in case’ bag. The bag will arrive sealed, with your name and a list of the medicines it contains on the outside.
Please do not try to open the ‘just in case’ bag of medications. This can only be done by a doctor or nurse who is looking after you.
There are a number of boxes containing ampoules of several different medications. These include:
• Morphine Sulphate OR Oxycodone to relieve pain.
• Levomepromazine to relieve feeling or being sick.
• Glycopyrronium to relieve secretions in the chest.
• Midazolam to relieve anxiety and restlessness.
• Water for injection to help give medicines to you
The medicines should be kept in a safe place out of the reach of children and pets. They do not need to be kept in the fridge but should be kept in a cool and dry place.
It is extremely important that the ‘just in case’ medications are kept with the SPAR booklet.
Please make sure your family and the nurses/carer(s) looking after you know where you have safely stored your ‘just in case’ medications and SPAR booklet.
If you are admitted to hospital, the hospice or a care-home, please make sure the ‘just in case’ medications and SPAR booklet come with you.
NO. The ‘just in case’ medications are not used to replace your usual medication, which you should continue to take as directed by your nurse or doctor.
The just in case medications can only be given to you by a nurse or a doctor. They should not be given to you by a relative or carer.
Some people will never need the medications prescribed in this way. They are there ‘just in case’.
They are only for use by you and should not be given to anyone else.
When the medicines are no longer needed they MUST be returned to a pharmacy for destruction. Where possible this should be the pharmacy who issued the medicines, (the name and address of the pharmacy concerned will be on the medications label).
If the pharmacy that issued the bag is too far away or you are not sure which pharmacy it is, the medication can be returned to any community pharmacy/chemist for destruction.
As the ‘just in case’ medication belongs to you it must be returned to the pharmacy by your family or carer. It cannot be returned to the pharmacy by a professional looking after you.
This medication must not be disposed of with the household waste.
Healthcare out of hours / Care Co-ordinator (Fylde Coast Medical Services FCMS): 01253 955750
Blackpool Victoria Hospital switchboard: 01253 300000
Trinity Hospice Advice line: 01253 952566
Trinity Hospice switchboard: 01253 358881
St John’s Hospice Lancaster switchboard: 01524 382538
Email: enquiries@trinityhospice.co.uk
Post: Clinical Director, Trinity Hospice, Low Moor Road, Blackpool. FY2 0BG
