Medication Safety When Staffing Is Stretched: The Myth of the "Do Not Disturb" Tabard

Medication Safety When Staffing Is Stretched: the Myth of the "Do Not Disturb" Tabard Summer holidays, half term, winter sickness season - whenever staffing gets tight in care homes and home care, medication rounds are where the pressure lands first. Rushed handovers. Agency staff who don't know the MAR chart or where anything is kept. Gaps that nobody catches until something's already gone wrong. In this episode of Momentum Matters, host TeeJay is joined by medication trainer Lizzie Roe to talk honestly about what a chaotic meds round actually looks like on the ground, and what care leaders can put in place so medication safety holds up even when the rota doesn't. In this episode: Why the 7–10am medication round is the highest-risk window of the day The real impact of unfamiliar agency and temporary staff on medication errors Why "do not disturb" tabards don't always work, and what does Building better handovers using SBAR, so critical information doesn't depend on who's telling the story Lizzie's own experience of making a medication error, and what changed afterwards How care leaders can create a culture where staff feel safe reporting mistakes and near misses Practical, low-cost changes managers can make this month: private prep spaces, protected handover time, and encouraging professional curiosity from every member of staff Whether you're a registered manager, deputy manager, nurse, or care assistant, this episode is packed with practical, real-world ideas for reducing medication risk, without blaming the staff caught in the middle of it. Follow Momentum Matters so you don't miss the next episode on medicines, clinical care and regulatory updates across UK care settings.