Pharmacist script checks stop 40,000 serious medication errors a year
Practice Pharmacists prevent 43,800 prescription errors that could have resulted in serious harm, data taken from 4,409 pharmacies in England in 2011 has suggested.
Pharmacists are preventing more than 40,000 serious incidents a year by querying almost 2 million prescription items, according to Pharmacy Voice.
Data released today (September 14) from 4,409 pharmacies across England, taken in 2011, found pharmacists query just over two in every 1,000 prescription items. Extrapolated nationwide, the figures suggest pharmacists prevent 43,800 incidents that could potentially result in serious harm without a correct prescription.
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"This is not about GPs failing – it is about teamwork in primary care working well" Rob Darracott, Pharmacy Voice |
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The most common incidents relate to instructions on dose (15 per cent), quantity (13 per cent) and strength (8 per cent). Pharmacy Voice chief executive Rob Darracott said the data showed the value of safety checks carried out in pharmacies and the importance of information transfer between prescribers, patients and pharmacists. "This is not about GPs failing – it is about teamwork in primary care working well," he said. |
The barriers to working with GPsPharmacy Voice said it believes this is the first time pharmacy's day-to-day contribution to medicines safety has been measured like this. "There are millions more pharmacy based interventions that are not related to prescriber instructions so are not captured in our audit data," Mr Darracott added.
Breaking down barriers
C+D has been asked to submit evidence to the all-party parliamentary group's enquiry into barriers to pharmacy progress, starting with GP relationships – so we want your views. Whatever the barriers to you working more effectively with GPs – and, importantly, the impact that has on your patients – let us know, and we'll take them to Parliament.
Visit the Breaking down barriers page to complete our survey (and be in with a chance to win an iPod Shuffle), email us [email protected], tweet us @ChemistDruggist (#GPbarrier) or post on the C+D Message Board
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Have you ever caught a serious error on a prescription? Comment below or email us at [email protected] You can also find C+D on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook |
