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Showing results for tags 'Medication'.
Found 1,161 results
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Content ArticleThe responsibility of anaesthetists in prescribing and administering controlled drugs has extended not only to the recovery room and intensive therapy unit, but also to acute and chronic pain services both in hospital and home care. These guidelines written by the Association of Anaesthetists recommend best practice for the safe preparation, distribution and disposal of controlled drugs to meet current clinical demands in peri-operative care.
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Content ArticleMedicines optimisation and shared decision making are frequently used buzzwords, but what do these terms mean in practice? Steve Turner shares some patient stories to reflect on.
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Content ArticleMedicines errors in care homes are unacceptably high. A key study found that residents taking 7 or more medicines had a 79% chance of being a victim of a medicines error (Alldred et all 2009). In his article, published by Care Right Now, Steve Turner discusses the benefits and challenges of electronic MAR charts and best practice in medicine record keeping.
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Content ArticleIn his blog, Steve Turner, Head of Medicines and Prescribing at Medicine Gov, talks about how to manage medicines in care homes and implement quality standards. This blog is designed to provide information for care homes and for those choosing a care home.
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Content ArticleIn this PharmaTimes article, Anna Smith discusses a survey, published by Medicspot, that has revealed that pharmacists are “worried” about the supply of medicines to the UK, after we officially left the European Union (EU) on 31 January 2020.
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Content ArticleInterventions information related to the patient’s medication and hospital stay is provided to the community pharmacists on discharge from hospital, who undertake a two-part service involving medicines reconciliation and a medicine use review. To investigate the association of this discharge medicines review (DMR) service with hospital readmission, a data linking process was undertaken across six national databases. The objective of this research, published by BMJ Open, was to evaluate the association of the DMR community pharmacy service with hospital readmissions through linking National Health Service data sets.
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Content ArticlePatients in inpatient mental health settings face similar risks (eg, medication errors) to those in other areas of healthcare. In addition, some unsafe behaviours associated with serious mental health problems (eg, self-harm), and the measures taken to address these (eg, restraint), may result in further risks to patient safety. The objective of this review, published in BMJ Open, is to identify and synthesise the literature on patient safety within inpatient mental health settings using robust systematic methodology.
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Content ArticleLearn about anthithrombotics, what they are, the different types and how they work in this short video.
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Content ArticleFollowing the emergence of coronavirus and its spread outside of China, Europe is now experiencing large epidemics. In response, many European countries have implemented unprecedented non-pharmaceutical interventions including case isolation, the closure of schools and universities, banning of mass gatherings and/or public events and most recently, widescale social distancing including local and national lockdowns. In this report, from Imperial College London, authors use a model (semi-mechanistic Bayesian hierarchical) to attempt to understand the impact of these interventions across 11 European countries.
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Content ArticleThe Specialist Pharmacy Service (SPS) is supporting healthcare professionals with the COVID-19 Vaccination Programme in England. Read about how they are helping and the resources available.
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Content ArticleThis website allows patients and professionals to report suspected side effects to medicines or medical device and diagnostic adverse incidents used in coronavirus treatment to the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MRHA) to ensure safe and effective use. When reporting patients and healthcare professionals are encouraged to provide as much information as possible.
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Content Article
Coronavirus (COVID-19): reuse of medicines in a care home or hospice
Claire Cox posted an article in Guidance
Standard operating procedure on how to run a safe and effective medicines reuse scheme in a care home or hospice during the coronavirus outbreak. -
News Article
Soaring congenital syphilis rates in US risk lives of thousands of babies
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Health advocates in the USA are calling on the Biden administration to declare a public health emergency over a steep rise in congenital syphilis cases. The easily treated infection has quintupled in 10 years and can have harrowing impacts on children. Congenital syphilis happens when a baby contracts syphilis from its mother. Up to 40% of babies born to untreated mothers will be stillborn or die. Others can be left with severe birth defects such as bone damage, anaemia, blindness or deafness, and “neurological devastation”. “There is not a single baby that should be born in the US with syphilis,” David Harvey, the executive director of the National Coalition of STD Directors, told the Guardian. “We will be judged very severely as a country and a society for allowing this to happen to babies, when it is so easy to diagnose, treat and prevent this disease.” Rates of the disease have reached a nearly 30-year high just as supplies of the preferred medication, called Bicillin L-A, are in short supply. Syphilis can be cured with between one and three shots of the medication. Pfizer is the only manufacturer of the medication, a form of the first antibiotic ever synthesized, penicillin. The company said it does not expect shortages to be resolved before 2024, and blamed low supply partly on the increase in syphilis cases. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 17 October 2023 -
News Article
Locum warned after dispensing error in ‘staffing crisis’ leads to patient death
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
A locum responsible pharmacist has been issued a warning after a patient died when he dispensed the wrong strength of oxycodone during a staffing crunch, the regulator has revealed. Paresh Gordhanbhai Patel supplied 120mg rather than the prescribed 20mg of oxycodone hydrochloride to an “elderly” patient while working two locum shifts as responsible pharmacist at Crompton Pharmacy at Whitley House Surgery in Chelmsford. After taking one tablet, the patient died from an “accidental” oxycodone “overdose”, the General Pharmaceutical Council’s (GPhC) fitness-to-practise (FtP) committee heard at a hearing held on 11-13 September. Mr Patel admitted that he was “stressed and overtired” when he failed to notice a “discrepancy” between the prescribed strength of oxycodone and what he ordered and dispensed, The regulator heard that Mr Patel was “over-conscientious” and felt compelled “at a human level” to help out at the under-staffed pharmacy, despite the fact that it was “not safe to do so”, it added. Mr Patel admitted that his errors “amounted to misconduct” and conceded to the committee that his fitness to practise was “impaired” because he “breached one of the fundamental principles of the pharmacy profession.” The regulator heard that Mr Patel had “immediately” admitted his mistake to the pharmacy and did so again at the coroner’s inquest, where he also publicly apologised to the patient’s family. Read full story Source: Chemist and Druggist, 12 October 2023 -
News Article
Launch of new centre to promote patient safety in NI
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
A new regional centre which promotes the reporting of suspected safety concerns associated with healthcare products has been launched in Northern Ireland. The Yellow Card centre for Northern Ireland will bring together a dedicated team to increase awareness, educate, and promote reporting of suspected adverse events to the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) Yellow Card scheme. The Yellow Card scheme provides a mechanism for patients, care givers and healthcare staff to report suspected safety concerns associated with healthcare products. Speaking at the launch of the new service, Northern Ireland Chief Pharmaceutical Officer Professor Cathy Harrison said: “Collecting and monitoring information on possible adverse effects of medications and healthcare products is vital to ensuring patient safety. "It is fitting that the launch of the Yellow Card centre for Northern Ireland coincides with World Patient Safety Day on 17 September, with this year’s theme of "Engaging patients for patient safety". "The Yellow Card scheme puts the patient voice at its heart. By voluntarily reporting issues, patients, families and care givers can play a crucial role in their own care, and the safety of healthcare as a whole. I welcome the launch of the new regional centre and would encourage anyone who has suspected safety concerns to report them.” Read full story Source: Department of Health (Northern Ireland), 13 September 2023 -
News Article
Several hospitalised in Austria after using suspected fake diabetes drug
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Several people have been admitted to hospital in Austria after using suspected fake versions of Novo Nordisk’s diabetes drug Ozempic, the country’s health safety body has said, the first report of harm to users as a European hunt for counterfeiters widened. The patients were reported to have suffered hypoglycaemia and seizures, serious side-effects that indicate that the product contained insulin instead of Ozempic’s active ingredient semaglutide, the health safety regulator Bundesamt für Sicherheit im Gesundheitswesen (BASG) said on Monday. The European Medicines Agency (EMA) warned last week that pens falsely labelled as Ozempic were in circulation, and Austria’s criminal investigation service said on Monday that the fake injection pens could still be in circulation. The Danish maker of the drug, Novo Nordisk, has warned of a rise in the online offers of counterfeit Ozempic as well as its weight-loss drug Wegovy, both based on semaglutide. “It appears that this shortage is being exploited by criminal organisations to bring counterfeits of Ozempic to market,” said BASG. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 24 October 2023 -
News Article
Hospital drug policies could ‘put Parkinson’s patients at risk’
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Patients with Parkinson’s disease are being put at risk when they have spells in hospital due to a lack of timely medication, according to a new report. Some 58% of people with Parkinson’s disease who were admitted to hospital in England last year said that they did not receive their medication on time during their stay. Parkinson’s UK said that medication for people with the condition is “time critical” and a delay of 30 minutes can mean the difference between functioning well and being unable to move, walk, talk or swallow. The charity also conducted freedom of information requests on English hospitals and found that one in four (26%) NHS trusts do not have policies that allow people with Parkinson’s to take their own medication in hospitals. Only half (52%) require staff responsible for prescribing and administering medication to have training on time critical medication, the charity found. Parkinson’s UK has called for a number of measures to be put in place to make sure patients in hospital can get access to medications when needed including: ensuring there are medication self-administration policies for patients where it is safe to do so; more training for staff and better use of e-prescribing to keep on track of medication timings. Read full story Source: The Independent, 19 September 2023 -
News Article
NHS ombudsman warns Sciensus that patients ‘should not be ignored’
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
The boss of Britain’s biggest medicines courier has been told to urgently improve its complaints system by the NHS ombudsman amid concerns patients let down by missing deliveries are repeatedly ignored. In a highly unusual development, Darryn Gibson, the chief executive of Sciensus, has received a written warning from Rob Behrens, the parliamentary and health service ombudsman (PHSO). It says patients “should not be ignored” and must be “listened to and taken seriously” or he will consider taking further action. The PHSO investigates complaints that have not been resolved by the NHS or by private providers of NHS care. Sciensus is the single largest provider of homecare medicines services to the NHS and has contracts worth millions of pounds. In an email seen by the Guardian, Behrens told Gibson he had been unable to investigate most reports received about Sciensus because patients had not been able to complete the company’s complaints process. “That is not acceptable or fair to complainants,” Behrens wrote. In a statement, Sciensus said it worked “very hard” to ensure NHS patients received their medicines on time. Its services had “a 95% satisfaction rating”, it added. The move follows a Guardian investigation that exposed how Sciensus put NHS patients at risk of harm with delayed, missed or botched deliveries of medicines for conditions including cancer, heart disease, diabetes, dementia and HIV. It also uncovered how patients’ alarm at vital drugs and medical devices not arriving at their home was often compounded by a struggle to reach Sciensus to complain and fix the problems. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 19 October 2023 -
News ArticleValproate-containing medicines will be dispensed in the manufacturer’s original full pack, following changes in regulations coming into effect on Wednesday 11 October 2023. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has published new guidance for dispensers to support this change. Following a government consultation, this change to legislation has been made to ensure that patients always receive specific safety warnings and pictograms, including a patient card and the Patient Information Leaflet, which are contained in the manufacturer’s original full pack. These materials form a key part of the safety messaging and alert patients to the risks to the unborn baby if valproate-containing medicines are used in pregnancy. The changes follow a consultation on original pack dispensing and supply of medicines containing sodium valproate led by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), in which there was overwhelming support for the introduction of the new measures, to further support safety of valproate-containing medicines. Minister for Public Health, Maria Caulfield, said: “This safety information will help patients stay informed about risks of valproate, and I encourage all dispensers of valproate to consult the new guidance carefully. “This continues our commitment to listening and learning from the experiences of people impacted by valproate and their families and using what we hear to improve patient safety.” Read full story Source: MHRA, 11 October 2023
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Content ArticleThe Patient Safety Database (PSD), previously called Anesthesia Safety Network, is committed in the delivery of better perioperative care. Its primary goal is to make visible the lack of reliability of healthcare and the absolute necessity to build a new system for improving patient safety. They have begun by developing an open and anonymous incident reporting system focused on non-technical skills. Each quarter they summarise in their newsletter cases reported on the platform. Read the latest newsletter.
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News Article
Warning as patients hospitalised after taking fake Ozempic weight-loss drug
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
People have been hospitalised after taking a fake version of the weight-loss control jab Ozempic, with 369 drugs seized by the UK’s medicines safety regulator. The fake jabs, obtained without prescription through black market suppliers, were seized by the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency. Ozempic, the brand name for semaglutide, and demand for the medicine has contributed to shortages in the product, which is also used for people with type 2 diabetes. The watchdog said a low number of patients had been hospitalised and reported serious side effects, including hypoglycaemic shock. Others ended up in a coma, which indicates the pens may have contained insulin rather than semaglutide. It has urged the public not to buy drugs without a prescription and warned buying prescription-only medicines online “poses a direct danger to health”. Read full story Source: The Independent, 29 October 2023 -
Content ArticleThe Strengthening Medication Safety in Long-Term Care initiative, funded by the Ontario Ministry of Long-Term Care was established in partnership with the Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP) Canada to address the medication safety-related recommendations in Justice Gillese’s Long-Term Care Homes Public Inquiry Report. The three-year initiative is designed to improve medication management processes, including those intended to deter and detect intentional and unintentional harm in long-term care homes across the province of Ontario. This bulletin provides an overview of the initiative and highlights selected examples of improvement projects completed in the first phase.
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Content ArticleMedicines talk is a website hosting a collection of stories to inspire new avenues for discussion between healthcare professionals and their patients about their medicines and care. Story 1: Life is meant for laughing Story 2: What is it all for? Story 3: 'Keeping going': Are my medicines a help or a hindrance? Story 4: I look after myself Story 5: Is there anything we can stop today? Story 6: A glimpse of the future? Story 7: Polluting the planet The stories were co-authored by Professor Deborah Swinglehurst and Dr Nina Fudge, based on research conducted between 2016 and 2021 at Queen Mary University of London (QMUL). The researchers studied 24 people aged 65 or older who had been prescribed ten or more different items of regular medication, through home visits, interviews and attending appointments for up to two years. They also observed and spoke with health professionals in three general practices and four community pharmacies.
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News ArticleTreatment with isotretinoin for UK patients under 18 years of age must be approved by two prescribers in a series of regulatory changes announced by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) to strengthen the safe use of this drug. Isotretinoin, also known by the brand names Roaccutane and Reticutan, is an effective treatment for severe acne or when there is a risk of permanent scarring. While the drug has helped many patients with severe acne, concerns have arisen among patients and members of the public regarding suspected mental health side effects, including depression, anxiety, psychotic symptoms, and suicide, as well as sexual side effects. Following an expert safety review, the Commission on Human Medicines (CHM) agreed in April of this year to a number of recommendations to strengthen the safe use of the treatment. The safety review concluded that because of gaps in the available evidence, it was not possible to say that isotretinoin definitely caused many of the short-term or long-term mental health and sexual side effects. However, since the individual experiences of patients and families continued to cause concern, the experts recommended that action be taken to ensure patients were made aware of these potential risks and that they were carefully monitored during treatment. "The overall balance of risks and benefits for isotretinoin remains favourable," the authors of the report concluded, but further action should be taken to ensure patients were fully informed about isotretinoin and were effectively monitored during and after treatment, they recommended. Anna Rossiter, programme manager for Medicines for Children at the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, said the information for young people and their families "needs to be written in a format that is easy to understand and must set out the possible side effects that might be experienced". Read full story Source: Medscape, 1 November 2023
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Content ArticleA new report from the Public Policy Projects (PPP) calls on integrated care systems (ICSs) to harness the unique capabilities of the pharmacy sector and implement a pharmacy-led transformation of healthcare delivery. The report, Driving true value from medicines and pharmacy, is chaired by Yousaf Ahmad, ICS Chief Pharmacist and Director of Medicines Optimisation at Frimley Health and Care Integrated Care System, and is the culmination of three roundtable events attended by key stakeholders from across the pharmacy sector and ICS leadership. Insight from these roundtables has also been accepted as evidence in the Health and Care Select Committee’s recent inquiry into the future of the pharmacy sector.
