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Found 327 results
  1. Content Article
    A blog from the Patients Association for World Patient Safety Day on why patient partnership is key to the safe prescribing, supply and taking of medicines. "Being prescribed medication is one of the most common interactions between patient and healthcare professional: this World Patient Safety, let’s ensure all medicine prescribed today is done so following a discussion of its benefits and risks and with the patient’s full participation."
  2. Content Article
    This year, the World Health Organisation’s annual World Patient Safety Day on 17 September 2022 will focus on medication safety, promoting safe medication practices to prevent medication errors and reducing medication-related harm. Patient Safety Learning has pulled together some useful resources from the hub about different aspects of medication safety - here we list six top Learn articles about medication safety in social care.
  3. Content Article
    Specialist inspectors have identified cases of Salbutamol inhaler overprescribing of up to six inhalers per prescription by online prescribers. This article explores the risks of prescribing high volumes of Salbutamol inhalers. It highlights the need for ongoing patient monitoring, counselling advice, inhaler device choices and discuss the clinical considerations when continuing treatment.
  4. Event
    This Westminster conference will discuss the strategic priorities for tackling overprescribing in the NHS. It follows NHS England’s overprescribing review and subsequent Good for You, Good for Us, Good for Everybody action plan. Delegates will discuss what would be needed if the plan’s aims for systemic and cultural change are to be achieved, and priorities for the proposed Clinical Director for Prescribing. It will be an opportunity to discuss the future of medicines optimisation, opportunities for social prescribing, and measures to enable consistent delivery across the whole population and to expand the workforce to deliver non-medical treatments where possible. Key areas for discussion include: culture change - including development of leadership and accountability around overprescribing at national and ICS level - key issues for the Clinical Director for Prescribing systemic change - the role of social prescribing - strategic priorities for medicines optimisation - practicalities of scaling up: funding, staffing, training, and engagement with patients patient-centred care - practical steps - involving patients with managing long-term conditions - building support and frameworks required for development research - sharing best practice and guidance - building the evidence base - developing understanding of the groups most impacted digital - the role of digital transformation in supporting patient-centred care and the ability to make more informed care decisions - improvements to patient records pharma - system-wide collaboration and industry transparency. Agenda Register
  5. Content Article
    This year's World Patient Safety Day, due to take place on Saturday 17 September 2022, will focus on medication safety, promoting safe medication practices to prevent medication errors and reducing medication-related harm. In this blog for the hub, Laurence Goldberg, an independent pharmaceutical consultant, looks at how we can reduce drug administration errors by the provision of medicines in a ‘ready-to-administer’ format where no manipulation is required before administration to the patient.
  6. News Article
    The American Medical Association and three other major health groups have warned that patients across the nation could suffer “irreparable harm” due to the shattered legal landscape left in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. In a statement, co-authored with the American Pharmacists Association, the American Society of Health-Systems Pharmacists and the National Community Pharmacists Association, the groups said they were deeply concerned by state efforts to limit access to medically necessary medicine. Ongoing questions about state laws are already impacting patients, and language in newly enacted rules is “vague,” “unclear” and “disrupting care,” they said. “Physicians, pharmacists, and other health care professionals face a confusing legal landscape due to state laws’ lack of clarity, confusing language, and unknown implementation by regulatory and enforcement bodies,” the statement reads. “Without such guidance, we are deeply concerned that our patients will lose access to care and suffer irreparable harm.” The groups pointed to reports that some hospitals had prioritised caution over healthcare, others that have removed emergency contraceptives from kits for victims of sexual assault and pharmacies that have imposed “burdensome” steps for prescriptions. Read full story Source: HuffPost, 9 September 2022
  7. Content Article
    In this article, Dr Diane Ashiru-Oredope and Eleanor Harvey from the UK Health Security Agency identify the risks of prescribing and dispensing oral antimicrobials and consider how pharmacy teams can minimise antimicrobial resistance.
  8. Content Article
    Confusion between drug names that look and sound alike continues to occur and causes harm in all care settings, despite persistent prevention and mitigation efforts by industry, regulators, health systems, clinicians, patients and families. This editorial in BMJ Quality & Safety examines the results of a study that assessed the effect of mixed case (often referred to as ‘tall man’) text enhancement on critical care nurses’ ability to correctly identify a specific syringe from an array of similarly labelled syringes. The authors suggest further developments in this field of research and argue that a variety of different interventions will be needed to reduce medication errors caused by drug name confusion.
  9. Content Article
    In the UK, over 26% of adults take prescription medications and in the US the figure is around 66%. But up to 50% of patients fail to take their medications as prescribed. As healthcare steadily pivots towards digital health, Dr. Bertalan Meskó and Dr. Pranavsingh Dhunno ask how new technologies can improve medication management. In this article for The Medical Futurist, they look at the importance of empowering patients to reduce the risk of medication errors. They highlight five medication management technologies that could help patients improve their own medication safety: Smart pill dispensers which deliver audible and visual cues to remind patients to take medications at the right time Medication reminder apps which help manage medication regimens and can sync the data with a caregiver or doctor Digital therapeutics which support patients to make treatment decisions Digital pills which integrate tracking technology into pills themselves Telemedical platforms that allow patients to request advice or raise concerns with their doctors.
  10. Content Article
    Issues with medication management and errors in medication administration are major threats to patient safety. This article for the US Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) Patient Safety Network takes a look at the AHRQ's current areas of focus for medication safety. The authors look at evidence-based solutions to improve medication safety in three areas: High-risk medication use and polypharmacy in older adults Reducing opioid overprescribing, increasing naloxone access and use and other interventions for opioid medication safety Nursing-sensitive medication safety The article also explores future research directions in medication safety and highlights that these will advance patient safety overall.
  11. News Article
    Previously offered as prescription only, estradiol tablets, sold under the brand name Gina10, will now be available to women over the age of 50 who have not had a period for more than a year, as part of hormone replacement therapy treatment (HRT). Pharmacists have been offered training to identify who needs the tablets. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) made the decision as part of a strategy to make menopause treatment more accessible for women. Estradiol tablets treat vaginal symptoms caused by a lack of oestrogen, such as dryness, soreness, itching, burning and uncomfortable sex. The product is inserted into the vagina rather than taken by mouth. MHRA chief healthcare quality and access officer Dr Laura Squire called the move a "landmark reclassification for millions of women in the UK". "In reaching this decision, we have seen positive support from a wide range of people, including many women aged 50 years and above who could benefit from this decision," she said. The MHRA hopes the move will relieve pressure on front-line NHS services and give women more freedom in choosing treatments that work for them. Read full story Source: BBC News, 8 September 2022
  12. Content Article
    Unsafe medication practices and medication errors are a leading cause of injury and avoidable harm in healthcare systems across the world. In recognition of this, in 2017 the World Health Organization (WHO) launched the Third WHO Global Patient Safety Challenge: Medication Without Harm, aimed at improving medication safety. This article provides information and resources related to the Challenge.
  13. News Article
    GPs around England are to prescribe patients activities such as walking or cycling in a bid to ease the burden on the NHS by improving mental and physical health. The £12.7m trial, which was announced by the Department for Transport and will begin this year, is part of a wider movement of “social prescribing”, an approach already used in the NHS, in which patients are referred for non-medical activities. Minister for health, Maria Caulfield, said the UK is leading the way in embedding social prescribing in the NHS and communities across the country. “Getting active is hugely beneficial for both our mental and physical health, helping reduce stress and ward off other illness such as heart disease and obesity,” she said. Paul Farmer, chief executive of the mental health charity Mind, said he welcomed news of the extra investment, enabling the NHS to try new ways of supporting mental health, such as through social prescribing schemes. But, he added, prescribing exercise is not a miracle cure for treating mental health problems. “What we urgently need to see is proper investment into our country’s mental health services,” he said. “Only that will enable us to deliver support to the 1.6 million people currently sat on waiting lists, and the 8 million people who would benefit from mental health support right now but are deemed by the system not to be unwell enough to access it.” Read full story Source: The Guardian, 22 August 2022
  14. Content Article
    NHS Resolution received 172 claims relating to anti-infective medications between 1 April 2015 until 31 March 2020. Anti-infective medications include antibiotics, antivirals and antifungals. The analysis in this leaflet focuses on closed claims that have been settled with damages paid and concern an element of the prescribing process: prescribing, transcribing, dispensing, administering and monitoring. Claims concerning a failure to recognise that an anti-infective was indicated have not been included within the analysis.
  15. News Article
    Prescribing potentially harmful antipsychotic drugs to people with dementia has increased by more than 50% on average in care homes during the pandemic, new research suggests. It found that the number of people with dementia receiving these prescriptions had soared from 18% to 28% since 2018 – with prescription rates of over 50% in a third of care homes. Professor Clive Ballard, who was part of a national campaign in 2009 to reduce antipsychotic prescribing by half, said: “Covid-19 put tremendous pressure on care homes, and the majority of them must be applauded for maintaining relatively low antipsychotic prescribing levels amid incredibly difficult circumstances." “However, there were very significant rises in antipsychotic prescribing in one third of care homes and we urgently need to find ways to prioritise support to prevent people with dementia being exposed to significant harms.” Antipsychotic drugs are used to treat some of the more distressing behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia, such as agitation and psychotic episodes. They have only very limited, short-term benefits in treating psychiatric symptoms in people with dementia – but significantly increase the risk of serious side effects, including stroke, accelerated decline and death. Dr Richard Oakley, from the Alzheimer’s Society, added: “This study shows the shocking and dangerous scale of the use of antipsychotic drugs to treat people with dementia in care homes. “Alzheimer’s Society has been campaigning for a move away from the model of ‘medicate first’ and funded research into alternatives to antipsychotic prescriptions, focused on putting people living with dementia at the centre of their own care. “This drug-free, tailored care can help avoid the loss of lives associated with the harmful side effects of antipsychotic medications.” Read full story Source: The Independent, 4 August 2022
  16. Content Article
    This year World Patient Safety Day, due to take place on Saturday 17 September 2022, will focus on medication safety, promoting safe medication practices to prevent medication errors and reducing medication-related harm. This page links to resources to mark World Patient Safety Day from the official World Health Organization (WHO) website.
  17. Content Article
    Medication errors are a common issue within the care home sector, impacting on the health and wellbeing of residents as well as creating challenges for care home staff and managers. This report addresses the issue of medication safety in care homes in England. Through intense engagement with a representative sample of care homes and stakeholders involving an electronic survey, workshops and conversations, Patient Safety Collaboratives have sought to understand the reasons for medication errors and how these could be avoided in the future.
  18. News Article
    The UK needs to do more to use diagnostic testing in the fight against antimicrobial resistance (AMR), the chair of a government-commissioned review on AMR told MPs. Lord O’Neill, an economist and former treasury minister, warned in the review’s final report in 2016 that a continued rise in AMR would lead to 10 million people dying each year by 2050 and made ten recommendations, including the need for rapid diagnostics to reduce unnecessary use of antimicrobials. Speaking to a Commons Science and Technology Committee evidence session on 22 June 2022, Lord O’Neill said that while he was pleased with progress on some of the recommendations published in his review in 2016, especially in the reduction of antimicrobials in agriculture, progress on diagnostics was “woeful”. He said it was “alarming to me how we are not embedding state-of-the-art diagnostic technology right in the middle of our health systems”, adding that it could “really make a huge difference about whether an antibiotic is needed or not, and the right kind of antibiotic”. “Our most aggressive recommendation was that we should ban the use of subjective prescriptions in secondary settings, at least in Western countries, until they’ve gone through a state-of-the-art diagnostics,” he continued. “And nobody’s done it; they claim it’s a vicious circle, the technology isn’t there, but we have to give incentives in order to get this embedded because that would make a permanent difference.” Read full story Source: The Pharmaceutical Journal, 24 June 2022
  19. News Article
    The cost of living crisis is adding to pressures on GPs, the British Medical Association (BMA) in Northern Ireland has warned. The BMA said that is because the number of people asking for prescriptions for medicines that can be bought over the counter is increasing. That includes medicines like painkillers and allergy medication, Dr Alan Stout of the BMA said. Prescriptions are free for everyone in Northern Ireland. The rise in prescription request increases "the cost to the health service as a whole and the pressure on GPs", Dr Stout told Ulster's Good Morning Ulster programme. "We have talked before about the difficulties people have accessing GPs and this is just more demand and difficulties," he said. Dr Stout added: "I absolutely don't hold that against anyone, it is not our position as GPs to deny people medication or deny people prescriptions if they need this medication." Read full story Source: BBC News, 23 June 2022
  20. Content Article
    Unsafe medication practices and medication errors are a leading cause of avoidable harm in healthcare and are the focus of this year’s World Patient Safety Day on 17 September 2022. This article highlights two written questions tabled in the House of Commons asking about medication safety issues in the UK and the Government’s responses.
  21. News Article
    On Thursday 16 June, The College of Medicine launched its Beyond Pills campaign – calling for Government intervention on over-prescribing – at the Integrated and Personalised Medicine Congress 2022. Around 1.1 billion medicines are currently prescribed unnecessarily. Supported by eminent voices in both the Government and our healthcare system, the Beyond Pills campaign calls for the Government to immediately address the nation’s unsustainable prescription service through re-prescribing and social prescribing. Speaking at the Integrative and Personalised Medicine Congress 2022, The College of Medicine Chair Dr Michael Dixon said: “Medicine, as we know it, is no longer affordable or sustainable. Nor is it able to curb the increase in obesity, mental health problems and most long-term diseases. “A new medical mindset is needed, which goes to the heart of true health care. The advantages and possibilities of social prescription are limitless. “An adjustment to the system now will provide a long-term, sustainable solution for the NHS to meet the ever-increasing demand for funding and healthcare professionals.” The Campaign was established in the wake of the Chief Pharmaceutical Officer’s National Overprescribing Review published in September 2021. The Beyond Pills Campaign aims to reduce drug prescription, expand the number of social prescribing link workers, save crucial funds, and provide support to individuals and local communities hampered by health inequalities. To achieve these goals, it has today launched a campaign that includes six specific actions that need to be taken: Improving medical and healthcare training. Social prescribing and a psychosocial approach to treatment needs to be embedded throughout the curriculum Addressing financial incentives within the NHS. Financial incentives in the system should centre around community health. For those patients already on a cocktail of pills, medication reviews and appropriate deprescribing need to be emphasised Increasing the number of social prescribing link workers. Primary Care Networks need to employ more link workers to enable access to social prescribing for everyone who could benefit Increasing support for the voluntary sector. Government departments need to fund and support voluntary initiatives that encourage healthy communities Empowering individuals and communities. Informing individuals about social prescribing and collaborating with volunteers involved in social prescription and local health creation and showcasing benefits Further systematic research. Mobilising the research community to develop a fully-fledged programme review into topics including the therapeutic efficacy of social prescribing Read full story Source: College of Medicine, 16 June 2022
  22. News Article
    Bristol's NHS commissioning group is one of many across the country which is "causing harm" to people with thyroid problems by limiting the provision of a drug, a new report says. Analysis from the Thyroid Trust says that 58 per cent of NHS Clinical Commissioning Groups in England are withdrawing, refusing or reducing prescriptions of T3 for people with underactive thyroids - against national guidance. People who have thyroid problems can suffer from depression, crippling fatigue, weight gain and muscle weakness, which can be alleviated by the drug. But the Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire CCG does not permit prescribing the drug for new patients, according to the report. One Westcountry woman told the Express that she had her T3 prescription withdrawn, which caused her significant problems. Former police officer Carole Morgan-Anstee, 62, told the website she went through "hell" after her T3 was stopped. The Somerset woman was prescribed the drug after suffering symptoms including chronic fatigue and hair loss for 15 years. But after being treated with T3 for five years, her endocrinologist told her he had been ordered to stop prescribing it for her. He reportedly said the problem was that her local Bristol North Somerset and South Gloucestershire CCG had began cutting back on T3 supplies. Carole said: "I was really upset. It was hell. My treatment was completely within the guidelines and he knew how ill I would get if they took it away. The Thyroid Trust report says: "Around the country most Clinical Commissioning Groups have policies in place which are causing harm to patients by denying treatment. In those cases where this has occurred, patients have resorted to the private sector or to informal means, such as buying the medication online, or even travelling abroad where it is sometimes available to buy over the counter, to source the medicine they need which the NHS should be providing. Read full story Source: Bristol Post, 15 June 2022
  23. News Article
    A GP surgery that provides treatment to about 5,600 patients has been placed in special measures by a regulator. London Street Surgery, in Reading, Berkshire, was found to have "significant backlogs of test results and care-related tasks". The Care Quality Commission (CQC) found there was "poor identification of risks to patients" during an inspection in April. The surgery has been approached for comment. The regulator rated the surgery's safety and leadership as inadequate, and said it had insufficient processes to ensure services' safety and effectiveness. Repeat prescriptions and medicines were "not managed safely", which could have posed risks to patients, and there were "risks associated" with the storage of blank prescriptions, it found. Staff training was "not monitored appropriately" and inspectors found patients with learning disabilities were not provided with health checks to make sure their wellbeing was properly monitored. Read full story Source: BBC News, 7 June 2022
  24. News Article
    THE NHS has announced plans to scrap prescriptions for 35 conditions in a bid to save the money it spends on drugs available over-the-counter (OTC). The body said it will no longer issue treatments for a range of minor conditions, such as diarrhoea, oral thrush and ailments associated with pain. The health body will no longer prescribe drugs for 35 conditions listed below, which patients will have to purchase from their local pharmacy or supermarket going forward. The plan to dial back on prescriptions was devised with the aim of allocating funds to treatments for more serious conditions, according to the health body. Many of the conditions are able to resolve on their own, but prescriptions may still be issued if an exemption applies. Acute sore throat Conjunctivitis Coughs, colds, and nasal congestion Cradle cap Dandruff Diarrhoea Dry eyes / sore tired eyes Earwax Excessive sweating Haemorrhoids Head live Indigestion and heartburn Infant colic Infrequent cold sores of the lip Infrequent constipation Infrequent migraine Insect bites and stings Mild acne Mild burns and scalds Mild cystitis Mild dry skin Mild irritant dermatitis Mild to moderate hay fever Minor conditions associated with pain, discomfort and fever (e.g. aches and pain, headache, period pain, back pain) Mouth ulcers Nappy rash Oral thrush Prevention of tooth decay Ringworm/athlete’s foot Sunburn Sun protection Teething / mild toothache Threadworms Travel sickness Warts and verrucae Read full story Source: Express, 20 May 2022
  25. News Article
    NHS prescription charges in England are to be frozen for the first time in 12 years, the government has confirmed. Single prescription charges, which the Department of Health said would normally rise "in line with inflation", will remain at £9.35 until next year. Health Secretary Sajid Javid said freezing the costs would "put money back in people's pockets". Faith Angwet, a single mother of two, said she had to choose between paying for prescriptions to treat for her high blood pressure, or using that money to feed her children. She said the price freeze "won't go far" because "it's not necessarily the outgoings affecting me, everything is going up in price and I'm not able to afford everything I use to be, including my prescription". Claire Anderson, of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, said people who do not qualify for free prescriptions because of their income, age, or medication type, often had to make decisions about which medicines they need. "Those medicines are prescribed for a reason because that patient needs that treatment," she told the BBC. And Laura Cockram, chairwoman of the Prescription Charges Coalition, who welcomed the freeze, said the government should review the list of those who qualified for free prescriptions. She said the prescription exemption charge list was put together more than 50 years ago, when conditions like HIV "didn't even exist" and at a time there "weren't life saving treatments for things like asthma, Parkinson's and MS". Read full story Source: BBC News, 16 May 2022
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