Welsh hospitals benefit from new drug chart
Hospitals across Wales are now benefiting from a new all-Wales drug chart, which was put into use last month.
Prescription writing standards have also been unified and an e-learning
package has been developed to support prescribing training for staff.
As a result, clinical staff no longer need to learn new systems when
they move between different hospitals in Wales.
The new drug chart was designed to overcome problems in the original
all-Wales version (developed around 1969) which included insufficient
space to record the increased number of medicines prescribed and drug
allergies, and no means of altering the route, dose or frequency of administration.
These deficiencies had led to multiple drug charts being in use throughout
Welsh hospital trusts and potentially increased the risk of medication
error.
The work has been led by a project team whose members include Dave Roberts
and Sara Gage from Cardiff & Vale NHS Trust, Jenny Harris from Pontypridd
and Rhondda NHS Trust and Suzanne Scott-Thomas from North Glamorgan NHS
Trust.
The team was awarded the United Kingdom Clinical Pharmacy Association’s “Pfizer
patient safety award” at the joint Guild of Healthcare Pharmacists
and UKCPA conference in Glasgow last month (see the May issue of Hospital
Pharmacist, out this week, for a conference report). |
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