Cannabis Health reports
Devon Partnership NHS Trust has approved procedures for patients to continue taking their prescribed cannabis-based medications while in hospital.
An NHS trust in Devon has become the first to approve a standard procedure for patients to continue taking their prescribed cannabis-based medications while in hospital.
The policy, which aims to give medical cannabis patients a clear, safe pathway for administering these medicines when admitted to hospital, was approved by bosses at Devon Partnership NHS Trust (DPT) in May.
The mental health and learning disability trust is the first in England to establish procedures for verifying prescriptions, storing medicines, and administering treatment safely where appropriate, since medical cannabis was legalised in 2018.
Until now, decisions about the use of these medicines in hospitals have been left to individual clinicians and, ultimately, to the position of the trust. But the lack of formal procedures around this has led to confusion among patients and staff.