Chemist and Druggist have highlighted the BBC Inside Out story on Boots ‘self-checking’ of medicines and their relation to prescribing errors.
Pharmacists self-checking their own work (to ensure that the right medicine goes to the right person at the right time), is roundly frowned upon. One commentator on the C&D website stated – ‘Self checking in a fast paced environment dealing with dangerous medication is a recipe for disaster!’
In the programme, it was revealed that medicine prescription errors occur in a tiny fraction (<0.00041%) of the over 220 Million prescriptions that Boots fulfill every year, and that the company, despite increasing time and work pressures, were found at fault in only 1.2% of their practices in regards to staffing standards, compared to the rest of the industry’s 2.4%.
Improving patient awareness and understanding of their medicines is at the core of Talking Medicines mission to empower patients to take control of their health. Over 17,000 prescribing errors across the country were reported to the NHS between April 2016 and March 2017, of the 1 Billion medicines dispensed.
Central to the Medsmart app experience is the onboarding of prescription medicines by scanning the medicine barcode. In doing so the Medsmart app ensures that the patient takes the time to verify that they have been given the right medicine, strength, and formulation, and that the medicine is indeed for the named person on the label.
As we live longer, more medically complex lives, combining improved personal awareness with the opportunities that mHealth offers will empower us all, as we strive together with the healthcare community to eliminate prescribing errors.
Read the full Chemist and Druggist article here:
