North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust has launched a national Time Critical Medicines Awareness Campaign as part of Medicines Safety Week 2026 (2-8 November), aiming to reduce harm caused by omitted or delayed medicines and improve the safe transfer of patients’ own medicines between healthcare settings.
The campaign highlights the importance of ensuring that patients bring their medicines with them when attending hospital, helping clinical teams to continue treatment without unnecessary delay.
Have you MISSED medicines? | NWAS video
Particular focus is given to time critical medicines, where missed doses can have serious consequences for patient safety and wellbeing. These include medicines used to treat conditions such as Parkinson’s disease and other movement disorders, epilepsy, diabetes, Addison’s disease, HIV and patients prescribed direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs).
Campaign materials encourage healthcare professionals to follow four simple steps:
- Transfer the medicines
- Identify missed medicines
- Communicate with the Emergency Department
- Document actions in the patient record
Together, these measures can help ensure continuity of care and reduce the risk of avoidable harm during a patient’s journey through the healthcare system.
The campaign has been supported by the Association of Ambulance Chief Executives (AACE), Royal College of Emergency Medicine, Royal Pharmaceutical Society, Diabetes UK, Epilepsy Action, Addison’s Disease Self Help Group, Parkinson’s UK and the Medicines Safety Officer Network.
A range of resources, including staff and patient educational films, posters, FAQs and implementation guidance, is now available for ambulance services and healthcare partners across the UK to support safer medicines management and improved patient outcomes.
You can download them here.
