1 - Safe Prescribing

Question 1

What are the three types of problems that lead to medication errors?

Answer 1

- Patient-related problems: e.g increasing population and more elderly patients with co-morbidities and lots of drugs

- Pharmaceutical problems: blind adherance to guidelines, side effects

- Doctor-related problems: exhaustion, increased complexity of care and specialisation

Question 2

How can prescribing on call lead to errors?

Answer 2

Question 3

What is a serious reaction?

Answer 3

• A serious reaction is any reaction which results in/prolongs hospitalisation
• They can be fatal, life-threatening, disabling or incapacitating

Question 4

Before writing a prescription, what 9 things should one confirm?

Answer 4

Question 5

What are Barber’s goals for prescribing?

Answer 5

Question 6

How do we minimise the risk of making prescription errors?

Answer 6