What Is a MAR Chart? Medication Administration Records for Care Homes and Home Care
A plain-English guide for registered managers and care staff: what a MAR chart must contain, how to complete it, how long to keep it, and how to audit it.
A MAR chart is a medication administration record: the document where care staff record every medicine they give, prompt or support a person to take, including refusals and omissions. NICE says care workers must record medicines support for each medicine on every occasion, and that the record should ideally be a printed MAR supplied by the pharmacy. It applies in care homes and in home care, on paper or electronically.
Medicines are one of the most inspected areas in adult social care, and the MAR chart is the first record an inspector asks to see. A complete MAR shows what a person was prescribed, what they actually received and when. A gappy one is evidence of a possible error, whatever the reality.
This guide uses NICE’s guidance on managing medicines in care homes (SC1) and for adults receiving social care in the community (NG67), plus CQC’s controlled drugs guidance. It is written for care home and home care providers.
Key takeaways
- A MAR chart records medicines support: what was given or prompted, when, by whom, and when it was refused or not given.
- NICE expects a printed MAR from the supplying pharmacy where possible. A hand-written MAR should be exceptional and checked by a second trained person before first use.
- Record each medicine, each time. Sign it, date and time it, and complete it as soon as possible after the dose.
- NICE sets no MAR-specific retention period. Keep records securely for an appropriate period set by your records policy and the law.
- CQC Logic helps you audit and log errors. It does not provide an electronic MAR.
In this guide
- What Does MAR Stand For, and What Is a MAR Chart Used For?
- What Must a MAR Chart Contain?
- How Should a MAR Chart Be Completed?
- MAR Charts in Care Homes and Home Care: What Differs?
- What About Controlled Drugs?
- What Do Inspectors and Auditors Check on a MAR?
- How Can CQC Logic Help With MAR Charts?
- Frequently asked questions
What Does MAR Stand For, and What Is a MAR Chart Used For?
MAR stands for medication administration record (NICE uses “medicines administration record”). It is the working record of medicines support for one person. It lets the next care worker see what is due, lets managers audit practice and lets an inspector or investigator reconstruct what happened.
Under CQC’s Regulation 17, providers must keep accurate, complete and contemporaneous records, and NICE ties the requirement for medicines support to that regulation: care workers “must record” the medicines support given to a person for each medicine on every occasion. That covers reminding a person to take a medicine, giving it, and noting whether they took or declined it. See our Regulation 17 guide for the wider records duty.
What Must a MAR Chart Contain?
NICE lists what a MAR should include. The care home guideline (SC1, 1.14.8) and the community guideline (NG67, 1.5.5) overlap closely:
| Item | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Full name and date of birth (plus NHS number where available; weight where appropriate) | Identifies the right person; weight matters for some frail older people |
| Medicine name, strength, form, dose, frequency and route | Allows the correct dose to be given at the correct time |
| Known allergies and reactions, and the type of reaction | Prevents harm from a known sensitivity |
| When the medicine should be reviewed or monitored; any stop or review date | Stops medicines running on unreviewed |
| Any support needed to take the medicine, and special instructions | Covers adherence support, swallowing needs and timing instructions |
| The GP practice (NG67) | Gives staff a route to query a prescription |
The record of each dose also needs a signature or initials, the date and time, and a clear code or note where a dose was not given and why.
How Should a MAR Chart Be Completed?
NICE SC1 (1.14.7) says paper or electronic MAR records should:
- be legible and signed by the care home staff member
- be clear, accurate and factual, with the correct date and time
- be completed as soon as possible after administration
- avoid jargon and abbreviations
- be easily understood by the resident, their family member or carer
Practical points that follow from the guidance:
- Check the MAR against the label before each round, and flag any mismatch to the manager.
- Record after the person has taken the medicine, not before.
- Record refusals and omissions with the reason, and tell the prescriber about ongoing refusal if the person agrees (SC1 1.2.3).
- Do not alter an entry. Correct it with a signed, dated note.
- Record changes made by phone only when supported in writing before the next dose, and update the MAR and care plan as soon as possible, usually within 24 hours (SC1 1.9.7).
- Use a hand-written MAR only in exceptional circumstances. A trained, designated member of staff should write it and a second trained person should check and sign it before first use (SC1 1.14.9).
MAR Charts in Care Homes and Home Care: What Differs?
| Care home | Home care | |
|---|---|---|
| Who supplies it | Supplying pharmacy should produce the MAR wherever possible (SC1 1.11.3) | Ideally a printed record from the pharmacist, dispensing doctor or the provider (NG67 1.5.3) |
| Where it is kept | In the home’s medicines area or on an electronic system | In the person’s home, or on a mobile app that syncs with the office |
| What staff record | Each dose given, refused or omitted | The same, including prompts and reminders; a prompt is medicines support and must be recorded |
| Main audit risk | Gaps and codes without reasons; missed stock checks | Gaps, late visits affecting dose timing, and records not returned to the office |
See also our guide to what to do after a medication error and the medication error log template.
What About Controlled Drugs?
Controlled drugs have extra rules. CQC says a Schedule 2 controlled drug must be recorded in a controlled drugs register as well as on the MAR, which should show the name of the person given the drug, the dose and the time (CQC: controlled drugs in care homes). See our guide to controlled drugs in care homes.
What Do Inspectors and Auditors Check on a MAR?
- Gaps: a blank where a dose should be signed, with no code or reason.
- Consistency with stock: the number of tablets left matches the number recorded as given.
- Allergies and review dates: recorded and in date.
- PRN (as-needed) medicines: the reason for giving, the dose and the time, and the gap before the next dose.
- Handwritten entries: checked and signed by a second trained person.
- Action after a finding: was an error logged, the person checked, the prescriber told and the learning shared?
Run a monthly medication audit and re-audit after any error. Our audit schedule template and audit guide show how, and the Regulation 12 guide sets out the safe medicines duty.
How Can CQC Logic Help With MAR Charts?
CQC Logic is not a MAR system: it does not generate, store or let staff sign an electronic MAR, so keep using your pharmacy MAR or eMAR. What it does is help you manage the governance around it: a medication administration audit in the audit schedule tracker (with ratings, findings, actions and re-audit dates), a medication error log, a supervision log and a training tracker so competency is evidenced, and a notification tracker for events you must report. See what each plan includes.
Sources: NICE SC1: Managing medicines in care homes · NICE NG67: Managing medicines for adults receiving social care in the community · CQC: Controlled drugs in care homes
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Frequently Asked Questions
What does MAR stand for?
MAR stands for medication administration record, also written medicines administration record. It is the record of medicines given, prompted or supported for one person.
Is a MAR chart a legal document?
Keeping accurate records of medicines support is a legal expectation under Regulation 17 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014, and NICE says care workers must record support for each medicine on every occasion. In practice the MAR is the record an inspector, coroner or investigator will rely on.
Can a carer give medication without a MAR chart?
Medicines support must be recorded each time, and NICE says care workers should use a MAR to record it, ideally a printed one from the pharmacy. Without a correct, authorised record there is no reliable way to check the right medicine, dose and time, so staff should raise it with the manager before giving anything.
How long should a MAR chart be kept?
NICE does not set a MAR-specific period. It says providers must follow the relevant legislation so medicines records are kept secure for an appropriate period of time and destroyed securely. Set the period in your records retention policy.
Can a MAR chart be electronic?
Yes. NICE guidance covers paper-based and electronic medicines administration records, with the same expectations for accuracy, signature, date and time.
Who can write a new hand-written MAR chart?
NICE says a new hand-written MAR should be produced only in exceptional circumstances, by a trained member of staff with designated responsibility for medicines, and checked and signed by a second trained member of staff before it is first used.