Hospital Pharmacist
Vol 12 No 2 p48
February 2005

News summary

Medicines information error and near miss database set up

A database of medication errors and near misses occurring within medicines information services in NHS hospital pharmacy departments across the UK has been launched by the clinical governance working group of UK Medicines Information (UKMI). The database, known as IRMIS (Incident Reporting in Medicines Information Scheme), covers incidents in medicines information practice only — and not those relating to, for example, the prescribing and administration of drugs, because there are existing systems to capture this data. Passwords and user names are required to gain access to IRMIS and data are anonymised. The database is also secured on the NHSnet and the National Patient Safety Agency is aware of the scheme.

According to Julie Horwood, Elena Grant and Fiona Woods, from the clinical governance working group of UKMI, information about any incidents that occur in medicines information practice should be submitted to hospital trust reporting systems in the same way as dispensing errors, but should also be reported to IRMIS. The idea is that by collecting data about incidents happening within the medicines information field in a central database it will be possible to determine trends, share learning, and inform training programmes, risk management strategies and national standards. All this should help reduce the likelihood of similar incidents re-occurring, they said.

Further details are available at www.ukmi.nhs.uk