PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Medical Treatments: Safety (10 June 2022)

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the progress that has been made towards the World Health Organization’s global initiative to reduce severe, avoidable medication-associated harm in all countries by 50 per cent by 2022.

Asked by:
Feryal Clark (Labour)

The World Health Organization has recognised that no signatory of its third global challenge has identified a method for monitoring all severe avoidable medicines associated harm incidents over time. Research commissioned by the Department in 2018 estimated 237 million medication errors per year in England, of which 28% were potentially clinically significant. Further research supports the approach adopted in England of targeting national programmes and processes known to contribute to severe avoidable harm. This includes the implementation of Electronic Prescribing and Medicines Administration in acute hospitals.

Through the National Patient Safety Alerts system, NHS England monitors organisations’ declarations that specified risk management actions have been undertaken in response to alerts. NHS England routinely monitors medicines safety improvement activity, including the delivery of the community pharmacy Discharge Medicines Service, which can prevent up to 10% of hospital readmissions and structured medication reviews in general practice to reduce over and underdosing of high-risk medication. While it is voluntary, reporting through the National Reporting and Learning System and its successor, the Learn from Patient Safety Events Service, has increased which provides data on such incidents and can identify learning and reduce risks.

Answered by:
Maria Caulfield (Conservative)
20 June 2022