Drug errors cause appalling harm and deaths, says Hunt

[Northerner]

Drug errors in England cause appalling levels of harm and deaths, Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt says, as data suggests mistakes are being made.

GPs, pharmacists, hospitals and care homes may be making 237 million errors a year - the equivalent of one mistake made for every five drugs handed out.

The study said most caused no problems, but in more than a quarter of cases the mistakes could have caused harm.

Drug errors could be a factor in more than 22,000 deaths a year.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-43161929

 

[trophywench]

1 in 5's a bit higher than I would have imagined so it is a bit ooer missus - whereas the 'headline' was another NSS and might easily have led me to not bother reading any further.

Question is, is this a recent phenomenon or has it been the same for yonks but we were never informed bearing in mind the vast bulk of it is immaterial?

 

[mikeyB]

Hang on a minute - much if this data isn’t current, it’s based on historical information because of the paucity of current data. In other words, they’ve made it up.

Most of us have been in hospital. How many times have we been given the wrong stuff? In my case, never. I’ve no idea about nursing homes, but then neither have the people who wrote this report.

 

[Davein]

Hang on a minute - much if this data isn’t current, it’s based on historical information because of the paucity of current data. In other words, they’ve made it up.

Most of us have been in hospital. How many times have we been given the wrong stuff? In my case, never. I’ve no idea about nursing homes, but then neither have the people who wrote this report.

I came close when I was transferred to a different annexe of the ward I was admitted to. They decided to play musical beds in the middle of the night. They left the previous patients name on the backboard, the nurse responsible for dishing out the drugs could hardly speak any English and didn't check my wristband before trying to give me another patients pills. I didn't take them as I didn't recognise them and questioned what they were. But when all said and done the nurses were under immense pressure and mistakes will occur in such circumstances.

 

[Robin]

Most of us have been in hospital. How many times have we been given the wrong stuff?

I've been in hospital twice, both childbirth related. First time, no errors, second time, ( C section), nurse gave me top up pain relief of paracetamol in between doses, because she didn't realise the distalgesic I was already on contained paracetamol, so I exceeded the safe dose. OK, no harm seemed to occur, but statistically, that's 50% for me, if you're counting hospital stays, not the number of drugs received. (That was 25 yrs ago, so hardly fresh data!)