Safe Prescribing

Safe prescribing of medicines

Medicines and prescribing are highly risky areas of health care. It is estimated that more than 200 million medication errors occur in NHS every year, and that avoidable adverse drug reactions (ADRs) cause 712 deaths per year, at a financial cost of at least £98.5 million every year.

This blog explains why I believe patients, the public and healthcare practitioners, need to be aware of the Prescribing Competency Framework. It outlines why the framework must be applied in practice, used in clinical supervision and CPD, and why we must all speak out of it is not being followed. The benefits of this will include prevention of unnecessary medicines being prescribed, avoidance of drug related harm, and lives saved.

Steve Turner

Read the full safe prescribing of medicines blog post here.

NHS BSA Polypharmacy Prescribing Comparators

The NHS Business Services Authority (BSA) Polypharmacy Prescribing Comparators have been helping practices and PCNs to prioritise which of their patients may be at greatest risk of harm from problematic polypharmacy. They show practices and PCNs how many patients they have on 8+, 10+, 15+ or 20+ medicines.

The polypharmacy comparators also identify patients taking a combination of medicines known to increase risk of harm, such as multiple anticoagulants or medicines which, when taken together, can increase risk of cumulative anticholinergic cumulative side effects, increasing the risk of falls, confusion, constipation and other issues.

Access the Medicines Safety Portal here.