NPSA to develop guide to safer dispensing
Pharmacists and pharmacy technicians are being asked to help the National Patient Safety Agency develop a set of guidelines for safer dispensing.
Having examined data from incidents and errors around methotrexate, the
NPSA found that patient safety problems included the design of manufactured
medicines, labels that obscured information, cutting blister strips,
small font sizes and poor quality dispensing labels. These problems can
make it difficult for patients to take medicines safely, Catherine Dewsbury
project pharmacist on the safe medication practice team at the NPSA explained. “This
represents a considerable cost in terms of both NHS expenditure and patient
morbidity,” she added.
The NPSA wants to develop multidisciplinary standards for safe packaging
and labelling of dispensed medicines, including guidance for specific
patient cohorts, such as patients with partial sight, learning disabilities
or rheumatic diseases. It hopes that this will improve the safe use of
medicines by patients and carers and minimise risks.
The NPSA wants to hear from pharmacists, researchers, or pharmacy technicians
who have been involved in collecting information about medicine incidents
or errors.
“If you have been auditing any aspect of your dispensing standards
or patient experience of using pharmacy services, your work may contribute
to making dispensing safer for patients,” Ms Dewsbury said.
Examples of good practice can be e-mailed to catherine.dewsbury@npsa.nhs.uk.
Anyone wishing to discuss the project can contact Ms Dewsbury on 07855
328464. |
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