Medicines and the MAR chart
This page is for coordinators and registered managers. It covers the “Medication” tab: the medicines list, what each field means, and how to read the MAR chart.
The medicines list
Section titled “The medicines list”The “Medications” card is described as “What this client takes: name, dose and schedule.” It is the list that reaches the door, so what is written here is what a support worker gives.
Each line shows the name and dose, then the schedule and any notes underneath.
Adding a medicine
Section titled “Adding a medicine”Click “Add medication”. The dialog is “Add medication”, described as “Name, dose and when it is taken, the doorstep version.”
The fields, in the order they appear:
| Field | What it holds |
|---|---|
| “Name” | Required. The medicine as prescribed. |
| “Dose” | Required. For example one tablet. |
| “When” | Required. The timing in words, for example morning with food. |
| “Notes (optional)” | Special instructions. These show at the door under the medicine. |
| “Strength” | For example 5mg. |
| “Form” | For example tablet, capsule, cream. |
| “Route” | For example by mouth, topical. |
| “Quantity” | How much is held. |
| “Doses in stock” | How many doses are in the cupboard now. Leave it blank if you do not count this medicine. |
| “Reorder at” | The count at which the coordinators are told to reorder. |
| “Prescriber” | Who prescribed it. |
| “Level of support” | “Prompt”, “Assist” or “Administer”. It shows as a badge at the door. |
| “Starts” | The date it begins. |
| “Stops” | The date it ends. |
| “As needed (PRN)” | Tick for a medicine given only when needed. |
| “Controlled drug, needs a witness” | Tick for a controlled drug. |
“Name”, “Dose” and “When” have to be filled in before the button will save.
The due window
Section titled “The due window”Two more fields appear when you edit an existing medicine, under “When”: “Window from” and “Window to”.
They are the times the dose is acceptable between. A medicine due at 08:00 might really be acceptable from 07:00 to 10:00. With a window set, an answer recorded before it opens counts as early and one recorded after it closes counts as late, both on the MAR chart and on the medication exceptions report. Without a window, no dose is ever judged early or late.
The window is measured from when the dose was first recorded, not from a later correction, so tidying up a note does not make a punctual dose look late.
Stock and reordering
Section titled “Stock and reordering”Fill in “Doses in stock” and “Reorder at” and the platform keeps count. Each dose recorded as given at the door takes one; a given answer later corrected to not given puts it back. The line under the medicine reads “12 doses in stock · reorder at 5”, and “Running low” appears once the count reaches the level.
At that moment an alert, “Medication running low”, lands on the coordinators’ shelf, once per medicine, and opens the client’s Medication tab. When the delivery arrives, edit the medicine and type the new count.
Controlled drugs
Section titled “Controlled drugs”Ticking “Controlled drug, needs a witness” changes what happens at the door: the support worker has to name a colleague on the same visit as the witness before the dose can be recorded. On a single-handed visit there is nobody to name, so plan controlled drugs onto visits with two people.
As needed medicines
Section titled “As needed medicines”A medicine ticked as “As needed (PRN)” can be recorded more than once on the same visit. Each dose is a new line, not a correction of the last. PRN medicines are never counted as a missed dose on the exceptions report, because they have no scheduled dose to miss.
Editing and removing
Section titled “Editing and removing”- “Edit” opens “Edit medication”, described as “Change the name, dose or schedule. What was already recorded stays recorded.” Editing keeps the same row, so the answers already recorded against it stay attached.
- “Remove” asks “Remove this medication?” and warns “It disappears from every support worker’s doorstep list.”
Removing does not erase history. A visit that already holds an answer for that medicine still shows it, labelled “No longer prescribed”, and the MAR chart still lists it as no longer prescribed. A support worker can still correct an old answer on such a visit.
The MAR chart
Section titled “The MAR chart”Under the medicines list is the “MAR chart” card, described as “Every medication answer for the month, corrections included.”
- Pick a month with “Month”.
- “Print” prints the chart on its own, without the rest of the page.
- Allergies show in red at the top.
Medicines run down the left, days run across the top. Each cell holds every answer recorded that day.
Reading a cell
Section titled “Reading a cell”The legend under the heading reads “G given · R refused · U unavailable · W withheld · struck through = corrected”.
- A letter in green is a dose given.
- A letter in red is a dose not given.
- A struck-through letter is an answer that was corrected. It stays visible beside the answer that replaced it, because nothing is overwritten.
- A small “early” or “late” under a letter means the dose fell outside its window.
Click a letter to open the detail underneath: the visit’s start time and the answer, who recorded it and when, the witness for a controlled drug, and the worker’s note. Printing opens all of them.
Under the medicine’s name you also see “no longer prescribed” and “as needed” where they apply, and the level of support.
The exceptions report
Section titled “The exceptions report”The chart is one client, one month. To see the doses that did not go to plan across everyone, open “Medication exceptions” under “Reports”. See Medication exceptions.
What support workers see
Section titled “What support workers see”A support worker opening the “Medication” tab sees the list without the add, edit or remove controls, and can read the MAR chart.