Safety - Prescribing Safety Indicators
The Prescribing Safety Indicators are a set of indicators developed to identify patients at high risk of adverse drugs reactions (ADR) and medicines related incidents in primary care.
It has been estimated that around 6.5% of UK hospital admissions are related to adverse drug reactions, therefore a process of identifying patients that may be at risk enables intervention, and will help to avoid harm.
ADRs can often be predictable, making it possible to identify and address them before patient harm occurs.
How can changes be made?
- Review patients identified as being at high risk of ADRs and medicines-related harm, ensuring that action taken is clearly documented and coded appropriately.
- You may wish to agree wording within the practice that could be used alongside an appropriate read or SNOMED code, to highlight that the patient has been reviewed as part of the Prescribing Safety Indicators.