One chart, every carer
Handover is where errors happen — between a daughter and a night carer, between a family member and an agency visit. A printed chart on the wall removes the handover entirely for the routine doses: the instructions are identical for everyone because they are the same piece of paper. Verbal handover then only has to cover what changed.
Write it down as you give it
The tick sheet is a dated record with a box beside every individual dose. Ticking as you go, rather than at the end of a shift, is what makes it trustworthy. It shows at a glance whether the evening doses have been missed all week, and it gives the visiting doctor or nurse something factual to work from instead of recollection.
Carry a summary to appointments
The pocket card lists every medicine with its dose, schedule, duration and the quantity the full course needs. It fits in a bag and answers the first question every clinician asks. It is also the document you want to hand over in an emergency, when nobody has time to reconstruct a regimen from strips and boxes.
Keep the as-needed medicines visible but separate
Anything given only for pain, fever or distress is listed in its own strip rather than in the hourly grid, so a new carer cannot mistake it for a scheduled dose. Note the maximum in twenty-four hours in the dose field if the prescriber gave one.
Update the day the prescription changes
Print a fresh chart on the day a medicine is added, stopped or changed, and remove the old one from the wall immediately. Two charts on a wall is worse than none.
How to make one
- Enter the person's details and medicines
- Print the wall chart and the tick sheet
- Have every carer tick doses as they are given
Questions
Is this suitable for a care home?
It works well for individual residents and for home care. Formal MAR requirements vary by provider, so check your organisation's policy for the official record.
Can I record who gave each dose?
Print the tick sheet and have carers initial beside their ticks — there is room in each box.
Does anything get uploaded?
No. Everything stays in your browser. No account, no server, no patient data leaving the device.
A note on safety. PillsChart reproduces the schedule you type. It does not check doses or interactions. Always follow the instructions from your doctor or pharmacist, and check the printed chart against the prescription before anyone relies on it.
More chart guides
Ready to make your chart?
It takes about two minutes and prints on one page. Nothing you type leaves your device.
Make a carer's chart