AU2004100732A4 - Improvements Relating to Blister Packaging - Google Patents

Description

-1- IMPROVEMENTS RELATING TO BLISTER

PACKAGING

This invention relates to a header sheet and is more specifically concerned with a header sheet a blister pack filled with doses of medication to be administered to a patient over a period of days and at times of the day as specified by a doctor's prescription. More particularly the invention is concerned with correlating the identity of the patient and the doses in the blister pack with the requirements of the prescription in a way which reduces the risk of errors being made by the pharmacist during assembly of the blister pack.

Nursing homes and similar organizations that care for a number of patients who may be elderly or otherwise incapable of reliably administering medication to themselves, often use pharmacists to pre-pack blister packs with the medication. The blister packs have Separate blisters each corresponding to the day and time at which the medication doses in the blisters are to be administered, and the pharmacist assembles the blister packs required at pre-arranged intervals, for example weekly, with the doses specified by a doctor, and supplies the loaded blister packs to the organization. A registered nurse or carer in the organization then gives each patient the medication prescribed at the times stated on the blister pack prepared by the pharmacist for the patient. These times may be at meal times and are signified by respective columns of blisters. The rows of blisters respectively correspond to the days of the week.

Each blister pack may be trapped for safekeeping during handling, between the two sides of a stiff plastics folder having windows in each side corresponding to the individual blisters of the pack. Fasteners hold the two sides of the folder together and other windows on the folder enable the nurse to identify the patient correctly, and the nature of the doses in the blisters.

The way in which a blister pack is normally assembled is as follows: The blisters, formed -2as bulges on a transparent blister sheet, are placed face down on a table having apertures to receive respective blisters. These can then be loaded from above with medication doses prescribed by a doctor. A header sheet having identification information such as the name and picture of the patient is placed face down on the table at a position at which this information together with a visual identification of the doses of medication in the columns of blisters, appears at the ends of the respective blister columns. Loading of the blisters then takes place. When loading is completed, a pre-printed foil-backing strip is placed over the back of the blister sheet and sealed to it and also to the part of the header sheet containing the above-mentioned identification information. The foil-backing sheet, that may have a paper web adherent to it, carries on its exposed face the description of the contents in each of the blisters located at each respective blister position beneath the foil.

A flap on the header sheet carries the description of the contents in each of the blisters in each blister column, so that, after removal of the sealed blister pack from the table, it can be placed between the two sides of the folder. The visual identification information of the patient and the appearance of the medication then appear on the sane side of the folder as the blisters. The written description of the contents of the doses in the columns of blisters is also printed on the flap at a position at which it is displayed in a window on the back of the folder. This is achieved by folding the flap of the header sheet back over the top of the foil sheet. The flap is then in its working position and is held in place by being trapped with the blister package between the two sides of the folder.

A stiff, plastics windowed folder as described above has found general acceptance by many nursing homes and other organizations as it is rugged, gives easy access to the medication doses required by the patient as it enables them to be ejected from the blisters through the foil backing sheet which is easily manually rupturable, and clearly identifies the patient and the contents of the blisters. However the assembly of such a folder by a pharmacist in the way described, makes it hard for medication doses and the identity of the patient to be checked while the assembly of the blister package is being carried out.

Although all of this detailed information is admittedly provided on one side of the header sheet, that particular side of the header sheet is face down on the table during assembly of -3the blister pack. Thus the information cannot be easily accessed. In practice, the pharmacist has to resort, periodically, to turning the assembled blister package over when checking is required, to ensure that the information on the backing sheet corresponds to the printed information on the foil.

An object of this invention is to enable a pharmacist to check more easily the identification of the patient and the contents of the blister columns during the assembly of the blister pack.

In accordance with the present invention a header sheet printed on one side and for attaching to a blister package during its assembly, has an extended length to provide at least three serially-arranged areas on one face; the first and third areas containing visual identification information relating to the patient and printed the same way up together with a written description of the medication in respective columns of blisters which also appears on the third area; and, the second area also containing a detailed description of the medication doses in respective columns of blisters, such description being inverted with respect to the information in the first and third areas so that when the second area is folded back into its working position the description of the doses is aligned with the dose descriptions in respective columns and appears the same way up.

The advantage of the invention is that all the information that the pharmacist may require to check a blister package during assembly is visually available to him in a way that minimizes the handling of the package during such assembly.

Preferably a fourth area is provided on the header sheet for displaying information relating to the medication requirements of the patient and appearing in the first area of the header sheet.

Suitably perforated fold lines are provided between the areas of the header sheet which are to be folded over one another during assembly of the blister package, to assist folding -4and eventual detachment of the portions of the header sheet which are not required after checking has been completed.

In the preferred arrangement, the first three areas of the card are of substantially the same size and shape.

The invention will now be described in more detail, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:- FIGURE 1 is a plan view of a header sheet divided into, four areas; FIGURE 2 is a front view of a blister pack sandwiched between opposite sides of a windowed, stiff, plastics, folder; FIGURE 3 is a back view of the folder of figure 1; and, FIGURE 4 shows, in sketches A to D respectively, an exploded diagrammatic side view of parts of a blister package in the positions they occupy during folding of a header sheet to enable a pharmacist to check readily the correctness of its assembly.

Figure 1 shows a printed side of a rectangular paper header sheet I divided by three transverse fold lines 2 into four areas 3,4,5 and 6. Areas 3,4 and 5 are identical in shape.

Area 6 is of lesser length but of the same width as the other areas. Area 3 contains the name and picture of a patient who is to be provided with medication doses from the package. This information together with details of the doses, is provided in an identical manner on the area 5 and is printed the same way up. Area 4 is printed with detailed information regarding the medication doses required by the patient but such printing is inverted with respect to the printing in areas 3 and 5, as shown. Area 6 contains information relating to other unique medication requirements of the patient that are not provided by the medication doses in the blisters of the package.

Figures 2 and 3 respectively show the front and back faces of a stiff, plastics, windowed folder 7 having a hinge line 8 and provided with integral fasteners enabling it trap between its opposite sides 9 and 10 respectively, a blister package 11. The two sides of the folder have an array of rectangular windows 12 arranged in four columns 13 and eight rows 15. These windows register with one another when the folder is closed. The blisters of the package 11 protrude through respective windows 12 on one side of the folder, and the nature of the doses of medication in the individual blisters is displayed in the windows on the opposite sides of the folder. This information is printed on a paper web adherent to one face of a metal foil 13 which covers the back of a blister sheet 14 and forms part of the package.

Such blister packaging is known in the pharmacy profession as the WEBSTERCARE system, (WEBSTERCARE being a registered trade mark).

The top row of windows on the blister side of the folder respectively display the times of the day at which the medication doses in the corresponding column of blisters are to be administered to the patient. These times are written in the windows as shown in figure 2.

A larger window 15 at the top of the folder displays the name and picture of the patient and also any additional special medication required. In the present case it is VENTOLIN.

Another large window 16 is provided on the opposite side of the folder, as shown in figure 3, and displays details of the nature of the doses in the blisters of each column and a written description of the visual appearance of the doses, such as their colour.

The assembly of the blister package will now be described in detail with reference to the sketches A to D of figure 4. In these sketches the leading lines of numerals 3,4,5 and 6 denote the face of a paper header sheet 1 on which information is printed.

Sketch A shows an initial stage in the assembly of the package. A transparent blister sheet 14 is arranged on the surface of a table (not shown) having openings for the respective reception of the blisters of the sheet that protrude downwardly through the openings so that the cavities of the blisters face upwards. A header sheet 1 of the form -6shown in figure 1 is placed with one marginal edge 38 under-lapping one edge of the blister sheet 14 and with its printed side facing downwards. The printing is therefore hidden from the pharmacist. Equipment (not shown but known in the pharmacy art) is used to load each blister cavity with the medication doses prescribed by a doctor and intended for the day and time signified by the position of the blister on the blister sheet 14. When all of the blister cavities have been loaded, a pre-printed foil backing sheet 13 is placed over the flat upper surface of the blister sheet 14 and the back of area 3 of the header sheet. The foil-backing sheet 13 has its undersurface treated so that it can be bonded by pressure to the contiguous surfaces of the blister sheet and the header sheet 1.

Its upper surface is pre-printed at the position of each blister with information identifying the composition of the medication doses loaded into the blister. Pressure is then applied to the backing sheet 13 so that it forms an integral structure with the loaded blister sheet and the backing sheet to complete the assembly of the blister package.

Possibly, through being interrupted or for some other reason, a pharmacist assembling the blister package may wish to check, during assembly, the doctor's prescription or the identity of the patient, against the information printed on the backing sheet. He can do this easily and without removing the package from the table, by folding the header sheet along the fold lines 2 in the way illustrated in sketch B. This exposes the area 5 which contains details of the patient and the prescribed medication, at one end of the backing sheet 13. As these details are printed the same way up with respect to the corresponding details appearing in area 3 of the header sheet, they appear the right way up to the pharmacist who can then easily check the information printed on the backing sheet 13 against the information appearing on the header sheet 1.

The pharmacist can also easily check that the information on the front of the blister package is correct. He accomplishes this by lifting the blister package with the attached header sheet I from the table and partially unfolding the header sheet 1 to the condition shown in sketch C. The sealed package can then be inverted so that the blisters are uppermost, as shown in sketch D. The information on area 5 is then presented to the pharmacist immediately above the information appearing in area 3, and the same way up, -7so that an immediate and accurate comparison of the two areas can be made. Also any additional information printed on area 6 can now be seen and the pharmacist can satisfy himself that it also correctly appears on area 3.

On completion of the above checks, the pharmacist can detach the areas 5 and 6 from the remainder of the header sheet 1 by parting it along the appropriate line of perforations 2, and the detached section of the sheet I can either be stored or discarded. Area 4 of the header sheet can then be folded under the section of the backing foil adhering to the underside of the area 3, and the blister package, together with the area 4, trapped in its working position between the two sides of the hinged folder as already explained.

Claims (5)

1. A header sheet printed on one side and for attaching to a blister package during its assembly, the sheet having an extended length to provide at least three serially-arranged areas on one face; the first and third areas containing visual identification information relating to the patient and printed the same way up together with a written description of the medication in respective columns of blisters which also appears on the third area; and, the second area also containing a detailed description of the medication doses in respective columns of blisters, such description being inverted with respect to the information in the first and third areas so that when the second area is folded back into its working position the description of the doses is aligned with the dose descriptions in respective columns and appears the same way up.

2. A header sheet as claimed in claim 1, in which a fourth area is provided for displaying additional information relating to the medication requirements of the patient and appearing in the first area of the header sheet.

3. A header sheet as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2, in which perforated fold lines are provided between the areas of the sheet to assist folding of the sheet and the detachment of unwanted areas when checking has been completed.

4. A header sheet as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, in which said three serially-connected areas are of substantially the same size and shape.

5. A method of assembling a blister package, substantially as described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings. -9- Dated this S/ day of August

2004. MANREX PTY. LIMITED AppBy li Patent Applicant's Patent Attorney.