FDBE aims to cut drug dosing errors
First DataBank Europe (FDBE) has announced that it is working with the National Patient Safety Agency on a project to improve the safety of patients on drugs requiring unusual dosage regimes. The NPSA, established as a Special Health Authority in July 2001, aims to improve the safety of patients taking oral methotrexate by incorporating new, […]
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New report sets out need for e-prescribing
A new report from the Chief Pharmaceutical Officer on the causes of medicines safety has spelt out the critical role that electronic prescribing (e-prescribing) systems can play in reducing medication errors. ‘Building a Safer NHS for Patients: Improving Medication Safety’ describes standards of prescribing in the NHS as high. However, it stresses mistakes can arise […]
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TransScript ETP project to close
TransScript ETP, the only UK company dedicated to the development of the Electronic Transmission of Prescriptions (ETP), is to close from 31 December 2003. TransScript was formed by PharMed, an organisation that has been committed to developing secure open industry standards for ETP since 1997. The PharMed project, one of three ETP pilots run nationally, […]
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Technology can reduce or create medication errors
Technology has the potential both to reduce and to create new types of medication errors – and should be implemented with care, according to a national report from the US Pharmacopeia. The MEDMARX report analysing medical errors reported in 2002 shows that computer entry problems accounted for 10.3% of all the “causes of […]
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NHS Urged to Adopt EAN.UCC Standard
UK-based campaigning group, e.centre, has welcomed a ruling by the US Food and Drug Administration mandating the use of a uniform system for barcoding pharmaceuticals. The pressure is now on for the NHS to follow suit. E.centre is a not-for-profit organisation which acts as the UK authority for the EAN.UCC (European Article Numbering and Uniform […]
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The 12 Days of Christmas IT
Thanks to everyone who entered our Christmas wish list competition. Phil Graham, head of information management and technology at Blackpool, Fylde and Wyre Hospitals NHS Trust, is a worthy winner with his variation on the 12 Days of Christmas that is bound to strike a chord with many readers. His prize is a bottle of […]
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Multilex Announces Enhanced Sensitivity Checking
First DataBank Europe , the provider of point-of-care databases has launched Enhanced Sensitivity Checking as a new feature of its Multilex Drug Data File Multilex DDF). The new feature offers a more sophisticated way to highlight potential drug – patient sensitivity safety issues to clinicians, a key requirement in reducing medication errors. Previously, within electronic […]
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Top Effectiveness Prize for Wirral
An automated dispensing system that has saves staff time and reduces drug dispensing errors took the top prize in the 2002 Healthcare IT Effectiveness Awards. The system was the brainchild of a team at the Wirral Hospital NHS Trust, one of the UK centres most closely associated with pioneering IT developments. The team developed new […]
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IT Needed to Cut Drug Deaths
A new report by the Audit Commission has highlighted the need to invest in IT systems to cut the increasing number of patients who die after being given the wrong drugs in hospital. Approximately 1,200 people died last year in England and Wales as a result of the medication errors often caused by ineffective information […]
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