Heartbeat: Ward competition highlights importance of medicines safety

January 10, 2020

During the end of 2019, we celebrated International Medicines Safety Week across the organisation.

International Medicines Safety Week focuses on safe use of medicines and reporting of adverse drug reactions, particularly in patients on multiple medicines. The awareness week is recognised across the globe every year and is usually celebrated during the last week of November.

To help increase awareness of the safety week, our pharmacy department hosted a drop in session across Sandwell and City Hospitals around the topic of medicine in general. They also addressed medicine safety concerns of both colleagues and patients.

“The events were a great tool for our team to inform our staff, patients and visitors of the importance of medicines and the yellow card reporting scheme” said Suki Tagger, Lead Pharmacy Technician.

“Both our Sandwell and City events played host to a medicine safety quiz which gave anybody in attendance the opportunity to be in with the chance win a prize. The quiz was made up of pharmacy and medicine related questions which all aimed to increase knowledge around medicine and what we do whilst keeping everything fun. Also, congratulations to Dean Lavender who won first prize in the individual quiz.”

Wards that were unable to attend any of the events were encouraged to participate in the ‘survival of the safest ward challenge,’ a medicine and pharmacy focused competition targeted at clinical wards and departments. The completion was designed to bring colleagues together, all in massive effort to get everyone involved across the Trust.

Christopher Anton, Administrative Coordinator in pharmacy believes the week was vital as it reminded people about implications of drugs. He said: “Clinicians should always be alert to the possibility of an adverse drug reaction in their patients and Medicines Safety Week is great at drawing attention to this, the existence of the regional yellow card centre in the Trust and the work of pharmacy in promoting medicines safety in general.”