Disability activist backs £1m home care medicines safety
A disability activist is supporting a major new £1 million research project from the University of Bradford aimed at improving medication safety for people receiving care at home.
The SAfe Home Meds Study (SAHMS), led by the University and funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), will design and test a new medicines management safety system to support older people and others who rely on home care workers to take their prescribed treatments.
Hospital admissions caused by medicine errors cost the NHS an estimated £84m each year, highlighting the urgency of improving safety.
Kate Smyth, Disabled NHS Directors Network Co-Founder, a full-time wheelchair user unable to move from the neck down after being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis 37 years ago, supports the research study team.
Kate, who takes numerous tablets every day, said: “A lot of people who receive care at home take a lot of medication.
“You become reliant on carers more than you did when you were younger. The more help we can give care workers, the better.
“I can’t get meds out of the packets. If you need care in the home, you feel vulnerable, that’s why I was keen to get involved in this research.”
How the project will work
The University of Bradford research will run in several stages, each designed to build a robust, co-designed safety toolkit for the home care sector.
The project, held from June 2026 to November 2028, will begin with interviews and observations involving home care workers, managers, care users, family carers, local authority commissioners, and NHS professionals. This first phase aims to pinpoint the specific factors which compromise safe medicines use in people’s homes.
In the second phase, researchers will hold workshops, bringing together care users, families, and health and social care staff. The groups will develop practical tools, training materials, and possible digital solutions to support safer practice. Care managers will test early versions of the resources to identify challenges, opportunities, and the feasibility of wider adoption.
The final phase will test the new tools with frontline staff and the people they support, gathering feedback through surveys and interviews. The team will refine the system based on real world use and evaluate whether it offers value for money. If the tools are found to be acceptable to use, the researchers will recommend broader trials and develop training packages for regional and national rollout.
Supporting independent living
Professor Beth Fylan, research lead and Professor in Healthcare Systems and Safety, School of Pharmacy, Optometry and Medical Sciences at the University of Bradford, said: “The care workforce plays a crucial role in supporting people to live independently in their own homes for longer.
“This research will support them, older people who take multiple medicines, and their families to make taking medicines at home as safe as possible.”
Rachael Ross, Bradford Care Association (BCA) Workforce Lead, said: “The Association is pleased to be involved with this important quality and safety improvement study, which we hope will benefit people using care services and the staff who support them.”
The need for change
Researchers, including co-lead Justine Tomlinson, conducted early engagement with patients, families, and care workers for the study, which has already revealed the need for change. Care users reported feeling confused by the number and variety of medicines and worried about whether care workers had accurate information.
Care workers described anxiety about making errors and difficulties accessing timely support. Improving their confidence and training has emerged as a key priority.
The research, supported by the NIHR Yorkshire and Humber Patient Safety Research Collaboration, is hosted by Professor Fylan’s Supporting Safe Care in the Home research theme and the University’s Institute of Health and Social Care.
Professor Kathy Rowan, Director of the NIHR Health and Social Care Delivery Research (HSDR) Programme, which is funding the research, said: “Investing in research studies which support the government’s mission to offer more care on people’s doorsteps and in their own homes is more important than ever, as NIHR celebrates its 20th year of funding life-changing research.
It is hoped that research studies like this will lead to carers having clear and concise tools to ensure that vital medicines are taken safely for those receiving care at home
"It is vital that patients can continue to receive treatment in the comfort of familiar surroundings. It reassures loved ones and, at the same time, eases pressure on crucial NHS resources.”
The research partners are the Universities of Leeds and Exeter, Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, NHS West Yorkshire Integrated Care Board, NHS South Yorkshire Integrated Care Board, North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust, and Equal Care Co-Op.