Medicines are the most commonly used intervention in healthcare and account for 50% of all preventable harm. They play a crucial role within the NHS for preventing and treating diseases, alleviating symptoms of medical conditions, and addressing poor health. However, it’s important to note that they also carry potential risks and side effects.
While healthcare professionals take great care to minimise risks, human error, system inefficiencies, and communication breakdowns can contribute to mistakes. Understanding how these errors occur helps everyone stay vigilant and work together to ensure the safe and effective use of medicines. Medicines optimisation involves ensuring medicines use is as safe as possible. Medicines safety aims promote safer use of medicines at any stage -prescribing, dispensing, administration and monitoring in order to reduce avoidable harm to patients
Medication-related patient safety events remain one of the most frequently reported categories of patient safety events in the NHS. More specifically
- Just over one quarter (26%) of patient safety incidents in general practice are medication-related
- Around 5-8% of unplanned hospital admissions are medicines related, many preventable.
- It is estimated that 1 in 5 adverse events in hospitals are related to medication errors.
- 8.4 million people in England are regularly prescribed 5 or more medicines, increasing the risk of harm and adverse effects.
The NEL Medicines Safety and Quality Group aims to provide organisational oversight on safety and quality improvement related to the use of medicines collaborating with primary, secondary, community and mental health care and interfaces with other stakeholders within NEL Integrated Care System (ICS). The group is accountable to the NEL System Prescribing and Medicines Optimisation (SyPMO) Board and works to reduce risks and promote safety in medicines optimisation.
To give any feedback, suggestions for content/resources for this webpage or for more information please contact the NEL Pharmacy and Medicines Optimisation Team at: nelondonicb.prescribingqueries@nhs.net.