Regional recognition for patient safety initiative (From The Northern Echo)

Regional recognition for patient safety initiative

3:12pm Wednesday 30th December 2009 in NHS Darlington and County Durham

An innovative approach to improve the safety of North East patients has won recognition at a regional awards ceremony.

Healthcare professionals from NHS County Durham and Darlington received a commendation for their work to improve drug safety at the Safer Care North East Patient Safety Summit Awards Ceremony.

Medicines Management staff used technology to devise a support system for GPs following guidance from the National Patient Safety Agency, which advised all healthcare professionals to take measures to improve patient safety when prescribing drugs for chronic pain relief.

Using a specialist IT too, the team was able to develop an early warning system, which flashes safety messages to inform GPs about the strength of each opiate drug, and how it compares to the equivalent dose of morphine. Alerting GPs to this information enables them to check that the intended dose is safe for the patient.

This unique approach not only familiarises GPs with the variety of medication available, it also provides them with the opportunity to reconsider their prescription and select an alternative. The system has been installed at all GP surgeries across County Durham and Darlington and will be monitored over the next few months to test its effectiveness.

Ian Morris, team leader for medicines management at NHS County Durham, said: “We are extremely pleased to have been commended for the work that we do.

“By using the technology at our disposal we have been able to create a system that will help our GPs to prescribe effectively and use this technique to improve patient safety services further.”

Dr Hilton Dixon, Director of Clinical Quality for NHS County Durham, said: “I am delighted the work of the medicines management team has been recognised in this way. Patient safety is paramount. We believe that this initiative will significantly increase patient safety and help us to implement the recommendations from the National Patient Safety Agency.”

ENDS Media contact: Communication department: Telephone: 0191 333 3386 or email pat.lawlor@nhs.net Note to Editors: 1. The National Patient Safety Agency leads and contributes to improved safe patient care by informing, supporting and influencing the healthcare sector. For more information visit HYPERLINK "http://www.npsa.nhs.uk" www.npsa.nhs.uk 2. NHS organisations from across the region came together to develop Safer Care North East, a framework for patient safety in North East England.