March/April 2004
Research and Training

University to research drug errors

The University is to conduct a three-year study to find out how errors occur in the process of delivering drugs to NHS hospital patients.

The Department of Health has funded the study with a £226,000 Researcher Development Award, one of only seven such grants given this year.

Researcher Gerry Armitage (pictured right), from the School of Health Studies' Nursing Division, will study existing records, reports and also conduct interviews with about 40 health professionals at Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust.

It has been shown in the USA that up to 6.5% of patient admissions can be affected by adverse drug events - errors that result in harm to a patient. Previous data here in the UK suggests a similar picture, however the rates could be higher in reality, due to under-reporting.

Gerry said: "We will be looking at errors which have occurred in dispensing, prescribing and administering drugs in the NHS. I will also look at how the errors are reported and, sometimes, why errors might not be reported."

Gerry explained that an "error" could be as simple as a patient taking medicine at the wrong time or being given the drug via the wrong route, or not being given a drug in the first place.

As well as those errors that result in adverse events, Gerry said he would also look at errors that had occurred before the drugs were administered, such as, for example, an error in the dispensing or prescribing of drugs, which might not affect the patient due to the vigilance of other staff.

Gerry added: "If you develop a sound reporting system - which I hope the research will inform - all staff should recognise errors and feel it both essential and beneficial to report."

He explained that where other non-medical organisations had encouraged staff to report mistakes, the numbers of reported errors had risen but the numbers of serious errors had fallen sharply.

Gerry will work alongside Assistant Medical Director at the Trust Dr John Wright.

John said: "Patient safety is one of the biggest challenges that the NHS faces at present. We have to ensure that all the care we provide in hospital and in the health service is as safe as possible.

"Gerry's research will make a major contribution to improving the quality and safety of care that we provide in the NHS. This is a real coup for Bradford."

The research will be presented in a report in 2007, and other papers and presentations will be produced from the findings.

16 April 2004

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