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Letters to the Editor
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The profession
Blame culture unacceptable
From Mr C. Morris, MRPharmS
It was interesting to read Philip
Walton’s letter (PJ, 12 November,
p607) regarding the blame culture we find ourselves in.
I wholeheartedly agree with him: the blame culture we live in is unacceptable.
I am almost disgusted to say that I am aware of several of my own decisions
that have been ultimately swayed by the thought of who is going to be blamed
if anything goes wrong.
On a related note I saw guidance notes (www.psnc.org.uk) for a central
database for medication errors (collated from information gathered from
the National Patient Safety Agency’s “Community pharmacy patient
safety incident reports”). It seems that under this scheme, not giving
full advice or even leaving out a patient information leaflet can be classed
as an error. I find this deeply worrying.
Perhaps if Dame Janet Smith would like to see a “blame-free” culture
in the NHS, the NHS could meet us halfway. I believe that it is still classed
as a criminal offence to commit a dispensing error. I think that if this
were to be repealed then a greater number of pharmacists would be happier
about reporting every little “error”. And several of us would
feel a little less bitter about the number of prescribing errors that we
pick up on prescriptions for which no criminal charges could be applied,
even if the medicines were given out as instructed.
Chris Morris
Newquay,
Cornwall
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The
Pharmaceutical Journal