In what is seemingly the first prosecution of this nature in Northern Ireland, Martin White has been issued a suspended sentence for allocating 67-year-old Ethna Walsh the incorrect medicine in his role as a pharmacist – leading to her prompt, unexpected death.
Following Mrs Walsh’s arrival at the Station Road-based Clear Pharmacy in 2014, Mr White reached for the box of propranolol, rather than the intended prednisolone. After taking the wrong pills, Mrs Walsh experienced difficulty in breathing, took ill, and later died in hospital.
Earlier this month, Antrim Crown Court heard how prior to the error in judgement, the pharmacist had complained to his GP about fatigue, low mood, and tiredness.
The timing of the incident has coincided with recent calls for a more open culture of transparency across the sector, and a proposed law change for an airline-style error reporting system. In line with this system, pharmacists – comforted with the knowledge that they would be immune from prosecutions – may be more inclined to come forward and admit their dispensing errors.
Currently, a quarter of a million patients are given the wrong medicine each year.
Moving forward with this insight, and intending to transform it into legislative action, over the last couple of years, Pharmacy Forum NI has played an active role in the Rebalancing Medicines Legislation and Pharmacy Regulation Programme Board, along with other key pharmacy stakeholders throughout the UK.
At the time of the consultation on Rebalancing Medicines Legislation and Pharmacy Regulation being announced, Kate McClelland, Chairperson of the Pharmacy Forum Board, welcomed the new proposed legal defence, explaining, ‘If you are a registered pharmacy professional, working in a registered premises, in the course of your professional duty, dispensing a medicine from a prescription or from the directions of a prescriber and if you have knowledge of the error you must notify the patient of the error. If these conditions apply then you would have a robust defence against any criminal sanctions.
‘The rebalancing programme for pharmacy is about improving pharmacy services for patients and the public and reducing and removing barriers to the development of new and innovative pharmacy services.’
The Department of Health’s outcome to the rebalancing medicines legislation and pharmacy regulation consultation can be found here, while a separate report is to be published on the responses to the consultation questions on the Pharmacy (Preparation and Dispensing Errors). 
Next year, the question as to whether a culture change is realistic – as well as the region’s risk landscape and current negligence measures – will be explored in-depth by the industry’s leading figures at the 2017 Northern Ireland Healthcare Conference (#NIHC17), taking place on 23rd February at the Europa Hotel, Belfast.
Just three of the speakers who are set to offer their advice, insight, and recommended routes of action, are the Medical Defence Union’s Dr Clare Sweeney, the Pharmacists’ Defence Association’s Mark Koziol, and qualified Pilot Niall Downey, who will be addressing attendees with his presentation, ‘A New Approach to Error in Healthcare – But Will it Fly?’
For the full itinerary, how you can get involved, and the abundance of opportunities in store, simply click here, or call 028 9099 9441.
