Clin Med
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Comparative Study
Simple prescribing errors and allergy documentation in medical hospital admissions in Australia and New Zealand.
This study aimed to quantify and compare the prevalence of simple prescribing errors made by clinicians in the first 24 hours of a general medical patient's hospital admission. Four public or private acute care hospitals across Australia and New Zealand each audited 200 patients' drug charts. Patient demographics, pharmacist review and pre-defined prescribing errors were recorded. ⋯ Patients reviewed by a pharmacist were less likely to have inadequate documentation of allergies (13.5% vs 29.4%, p < 0.001). Simple prescribing errors are common, although their nature differs from site to site. Clinical pharmacists target patients with the most complex health situations, and their involvement leads to improved documentation.
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From the report of a working party of the Royal College of Physicians, the Association for Palliative Medicine and National End of Life Care Programme