Dear Gracia,
Thank you for your introduction message and welcome to HIFA!
https://www.hifa.org/dgroups-rss/introduction-gracia-didas-tanzania-safe...
I note your professional interest in patient safety and the safe and effective use of medicines.
When we think of patient safety in relation to the safe and effective use of medicines, we often think first of accidental errors, especially at the bedside. For example, a health professional may accidentally give the wrong drug or the wrong dose.
Another aspect of 'safe and effective use of medicines' relates to the rational use of medicines, which in turn depends on the correct diagnosis, and the correct selection of a medicine that is appropriate for that diagnmosis (and for that particular patient). One very common example of this is the inappropriate prescription of antibiotics for children or adults when they are not indicated (as in viral infections). This exposes the patient to potential side effects without clinical benefit, as well as driving antimicrobial resistance at community level.
Do you have any examples of the above from your experience as a pharmacist? How was the situation addressed?
One key point in patient safety is the need to identify system factors that underlie unsafe care, rather than to lay blame with an indivdual. Although an individual may make an error, often this can be traced back to systems issues that make such errors more likely.
Best wishes, Neil
HIFA profile: Neil Pakenham-Walsh is coordinator of HIFA (Healthcare Information For All), a global health community that brings all stakeholders together around the shared goal of universal access to reliable healthcare information. HIFA has 20,000 members in 180 countries, interacting in four languages and representing all parts of the global evidence ecosystem. HIFA is administered by Global Healthcare Information Network, a UK-based nonprofit in official relations with the World Health Organization. Email: neil@hifa.org