A recent study conducted by the University of Manchester, commissioned by NHS England, has revealed that electronic sharing of prescription medicines information holds the key to significantly improving patient safety in healthcare settings.
The study’s findings are impressive, showing a potential 40% reduction in medication errors during hospital transitions, which could prevent harm to thousands of patients and save millions in healthcare costs. As the NHS introduces new digital information standards, the vision of a safer healthcare system becomes increasingly achievable.
The study’s primary focus was to explore the impact of electronic sharing of medicines information on medication errors during hospital transitions. Currently, a staggering 1.8 million medication errors occur when patients go into or leave hospitals. However, with the implementation of electronic information sharing, this number could drop significantly to 1.1 million, signifying a remarkable 40% reduction. Such a drastic improvement in medication safety is a crucial step in delivering higher-quality patient care.
Apart from reducing the overall number of medication errors, the study also highlighted the potential to decrease the number of people adversely affected by these errors. Currently, around 370 thousand patients experience harm due to medication errors, but electronic sharing of medicines information could bring this number down to approximately 220 thousand. This reduction could lead to better patient outcomes, less suffering, and an overall enhancement in the quality of healthcare services.
