Sign In Forgot Password? Not a member? Sign up now!
22 August 2010
Doctors in Scotland have called on the Scottish Government to act urgently to improve patient safety by tackling prescribing errors. The Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh (RCPE) made the comments in response to a recent study commissioned by the General Medical Council (GMC) which found that in a one-week period 5.9% of consultants and 10.3% of trainee doctors in UK hospitals made prescribing errors. Worryingly, some of these errors could have proven to be potentially fatal for patients. According to the RCPE, although there can be many reasons such mistakes occur, one of the most significant contributory factors is a lack of standardisation in prescribing charts used by doctors in different parts of the country. The accuracy of these charts is vital for patient safety. However, prescribing charts developed by individual Health Boards often vary significantly from each other, increasing the risk of doctors making an error as they move between hospitals. In recognition of this problem, the NHS in Wales introduced a national prescribing chart for Wales in 2004. The RCGP believes that a similar move in Scotland would not only reduce the number of prescribing errors made by doctors, but could also help the Scottish Government achieve its aim of eradicating "avoidable injury or harm from healthcare". Dr Neil Dewhurst, President of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh (RCPE), said, “Prescribing errors can and do occur. The adoption of standardised prescribing charts is a simple but effective way of supporting quality improvement and protecting patients. It would also facilitate and reinforce teaching of medical students and junior doctors. Local variation in prescribing charts has existed for many years, but has not been addressed by successive governments and should now be given greater priority. Putting it simply, patients should expect a standardised system of prescribing regardless of which hospital in Scotland they are treated. “Prescribing charts offer an ideal opportunity to identify patients at risk from serious but avoidable complications in hospital. Risks such as venous thromboembolism resulting from bed rest, immobility and pre-existing medical conditions should be assessed regularly. Adding a risk scoring system to a standardised prescribing chart would help to ensure all patients benefit from such screening. “Doctors also frequently move around the NHS within the four home countries of the UK. It would, therefore, be logical to follow Wales’ example by developing a national prescribing chart for Scotland initially and then to work towards a UK-wide prescribing chart for use across the whole of the NHS”. The GMC commissioned research, which investigated the rates of prescribing errors in hospitals and what might cause them, can be read at www.gmc-uk.org/about/research/research_commissioned_4.asp.