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Industry lobbies CPS for dispensing error reprieve
Health chiefs will push the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) to show leniency while existing medicines laws are overhauled, this week’s all-party pharmacy group (APPG) meeting heard.
The measures will act as a stop gap until the legislation surrounding dispensing errors can be reviewed in 2010 or 2011, England’s chief pharmacist said.
Keith Ridge said: “It will take time to consider how best to develop the Medicines Act. This interim solution, which is very dependent on CPS’s attitude, is from our point of view the way forward.”
Talks between the MHRA and CPS were a priority, he said. The chief pharmacists in Wales, Scotland and NI had sought assurances from equivalent legal bodies, Dr Ridge revealed. Any changes to medicines laws must meet public expectations over safety, while avoiding unneccesary penalties for pharmacists, he added.
The pharmacy minister will be monitoring progress between the MHRA and the CPS, Dr Ridge said.
If successful, the discussions could see prosecutors subject to sterner tests before they can bring criminal charges against pharmacists who make dispensing errors.
Jeremy Holmes, RPSGB chief executive, said: “There’s an opportunity for a short-term solution and part of that may be guidance to CPS on what passes the public interest test for criminal cases.”
The comments came at the APPG meeting on dispensing errors.
Demands for mistakes to be decriminalised have intensified since the sentencing of locum Elizabeth Lee for a dispensing error in April.
Dr Ridge called on pharmacists to adopt an open culture on reporting errors. The profession must treat patient safety as a priority. He called on staff to speak out on unsafe working conditions and for employers to unite to improve safety. Pharmacy leaders applaud proposed changes Pharmacy leaders gave immediate backing to proposals that could prevent criminal charges for single dispensing errors. PSNC chief executive Sue Sharpe told the APPG meeting that proposed measures would bring huge comfort to the profession. Mark Koziol, PDA chairman, said greater leniency must act as a springboard for better error reporting: “If we can get this announcement about the CPS closing the back door then we should appeal to pharmacists to get more involved in reporting errors. It’s shocking so few errors are reported.” Howard Stoate, APPG chair, said an agreement with CPS would be of “huge reassurance” to pharmacists. Meeting attendees also called for clearer drug packaging designs to prevent dispensing errors. The National Patient Safety Agency said it recognised the issue of lookalike packs and progress was being made. |
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A deal to protect pharmacists from criminal prosecution for one-off dispensing errors is under discussion, England’s chief pharmacist has revealed.