Child drug errors 'too frequent'
A snap-shot study by the University of London of five hospitals in the city found 13% of the 3,000 prescriptions they examined had an error and a fifth of drugs given to children in these hospitals during 2004 and 2005 were administered incorrectly.
Hospital Negligence
Over a period of two weeks, they watched how nurses gave drugs to children on 11 wards at the five hospitals. They picked up 429 administration errors among the 1,554 doses of medicine given to 265 children, giving an overall error rate of 19%.
Medical Errors
When pharmacists reviewed the drug charts of 444 children treated in the hospitals over the fortnight, they found and corrected errors in 13% of almost 3,000 prescriptions. The majority were incomplete prescriptions, but a third were dosing errors.
Although the study involved only five London hospitals, the authors believe the results would be similar in other UK hospitals.
Most drugs are formulated for adults not children, meaning doctors have to make their own dose calculations based on the child's age, weight and clinical condition. Many drugs given to children are used unlicensed, meaning they have not been tested and approved for use on children, which compounds the problem.
The National Patient Safety Association said it had recently looked at patient safety among children in hospital and had identified action points for NHS organisations, which include reviewing local standard operating procedures for medicine management.
Commenting on the findings, Susan Brown a medical negligence lawyer from Boyes Turner said: “Sadly although the study was undertaken 5 years ago it isn't thought that the position is any different today. Fortunately many of these medical errors don't result in serious harm, but some do and are potentially fatal. The medical negligence lawyers at Boyes Turner are regularly contacted by families whose children have suffered injury as a result of medication errors.
Consistent with our policy when giving comment and advice on a non-specific basis, we cannot assume legal responsibility for the accuracy of any particular statement. In the case of specific problems we recommend that professional advice be sought.
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