National Reporting and Learning System launched
The National Reporting and Learning System (NRLS) developed by the National Patient Safety Agency was launched this week in England and Wales.
The system is designed to co-ordinate reporting of patient safety incidents
nationally, and the NPSA will provide feedback to NHS organisations
on trends that have been identified, to help prioritise the development
of safety solutions (PJ, 22 November 2003, p719).
Wendy Harris, senior pharmacist at the NPSA, told The Journal: “Hospital
pharmacists now have the opportunity to report to us through their local
risk management systems used by their trusts. While community pharmacy
at the moment does not enjoy that communication route, the NPSA is working
with the Department of Health, Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee
and NHS confederation through the new contract discussions to ensure
that this route is established later this year.”
An electronic reporting form has also been developed for organisations
that do not have a commercial local risk management system, or for staff
who will only report independently of their organisation. NRLS will only
retain information in an anonymous form and the NPSA will not investigate
individual incidents.
Mrs Harris said: “Patient safety is at the centre of clinical governance.
All pharmacists should be thinking about how they practise as an individual,
and where there may be areas in which they can improve, from medicine management
reviews to a standard operating procedure for handing out a prescription in a
community pharmacy.”
Reporting organisations are being offered root cause analysis training from the
NPSA to help staff pinpoint the cause of patient safety incidents (PJ, 6 December
2003, p781). |
The
Pharmaceutical Journal