Hospital Pharmacist
Vol 9 No 1 p3
January 2002

News summary

Report calls for greater use of pharmacists in reducing drug errors and adverse effects

A well-developed clinical pharmacy service has been identified by the Audit Commission as a crucial component of efforts to reduce the risk of medication errors and adverse effects of drugs in hospitals.

In its report on medicines management in hospitals, entitled "A spoonful of sugar — medicines management in NHS hospitals", the Commission has asked NHS trusts throughout England and Wales to consider whether they possess adequate resources to provide all aspects of clinical pharmacy services.

The report, which is aimed principally at members of NHS trust boards, highlights the need to link medicines management to clinical governance. Such a move should help to minimise the risk of medication errors, which is showing an upward trend in the UK.

The Audit Commission would like to see pharmacists working as full members of the clinical team, the introduction of automated dispensing, as well as electronic prescribing and electronic updating of patients' records.

The report states further that while the best hospitals are not too far away from attaining the ideal scenario in terms of managing patients' medicines, for other hospitals "many aspects of medicines management arrangements and practice remain rooted in the 1970s."

Keith Farrar, chairman of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society's Hospitals Pharmacists Group (HPG) committee, welcomed the report. He said that patients would benefit from hospital pharmacists being directly involved in clinical care at the patient's bedside.

Commenting on the significance of the report, Steve Freeborn, chief pharmacist, Royal Salford Hospitals NHS Trust, said that it was the most profound and important benchmarking exercise on hospital pharmacy that Ihe had seen in his 27-year career. He added "My hope is that the recommendations are completely understood and quickly acted upon by both the Department of Health and NHS trust boards."

The full report is available from Audit Commission Publications, PO Box 99, Wetherby LS23 7JA, tel 0800 502030, priced at £20, or on the Commission's website (www.audit-commission.gov.uk)

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