Dunedin Hospital pilot uncovers serious prescribing errors

MEDIA RELEASE
9 February 2011

Dunedin Hospital pilot uncovers serious prescribing errors

The electronic prescribing pilot involving two wards at Dunedin Hospital may be extended across the entire hospital, and to Wakari Hospital, after the pilot exposed inadequate prescribing and administration practices.

In yesterday’s Otago Daily Times it was reported that from a sample of 100 paper charts, the pilot uncovered 2,623 instances of harm or near misses from medication errors last year - most of which were unreported or unrecognised.

“The Guild has always asserted that there is a serious prescription error problem in primary health care,” says Annabel Young, Pharmacy Guild of New Zealand Chief Executive. “This is both a patient safety issue and a cost issue for health care.

“While these prescription errors have been uncovered in a hospital they also pose a serious concern for community pharmacists. Once discharged, patients often go immediately to their community pharmacist to fill a prescription. This means the prescription errors are transferred into the community leading to further patient safety concerns and an increased workload for the community pharmacist.”

The article says that according to Dr Andrew Bowers, Southern DHBs medical director of information and clinical leader of the pilot, the National Health Board has indicated they might fund the extension of the programme throughout Dunedin Hospital and Wakari Hospital at a cost of $800,000. The electronic programme is inflexible which means all prescribers have to comply at all times to prescribing rules.

ENDS

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