Safe prescribing for foundation trainees
Published: 24/07/2007
Learning to prescribe safely is an essential part of medical training. Although most prescriptions are written safely, about 1-2 include errors. Incidents involving medicines are the second most common type reported to the National Patient Safety Agency, with nearly 16 being associated with prescribing.
For safe medicines use, patients need to receive the right drug, in the right dose, by the right route at the right time. Although many people are involved in the process, including pharmacists and nurses, the first steps are the decision to initiate the drug and writing the prescription for it. Prescriptions must therefore be written in such a way that all necessary information for safe medicines use is clearly communicated.
Writing a prescription is a common task for foundation year doctors, but many have had little experience of actual prescribing, even if they have learnt about pharmacology and therapeutics at medical school. Skills such as taking a history of drug allergy, completing the drug chart clearly with the name of the drug and how and when it is to be given, and calculating accurate drug dosages must all be acquired. Although many NHS Trusts have therefore provided training about how to prescribe safely, the availability and content of this, and whether the doctor undergoes any later check on their competency, is variable.
Now all foundation doctors will have the opportunity to use an e-learning package, Safe Prescribing developed by the Department of Healthrsquos e-Learning for Healthcare (e-LFH) team. It is based on a training and assessment package developed by Deputy Director of Pharmacy at Kingrsquos College Hospital, Gillian Cavell, and being translated into the e- format by her and colleagues locally, in Brighton and the West Midlands.
Safe Prescribing is designed to support trainees in meeting the prescribing competencies in the 2007 Foundation Programme curriculum. Initial modules cover areas such as prescription writing, intravenous prescriptions and calculations, safe anticoagulation and the prudent use of antibiotics. F2 modules will be published later in the year.
E-Learning for Healthcare specialises in developing interactive, innovative multi-media packages and Safe Prescribing is no exception. Learners will be able to watch video clips to illustrate a patientrsquos symptoms, use drag and drop to complete a virtual prescription and hazard perception to identify errors. Each module includes self-assessment questions and there is also an overall assessment, successful completion of which generates a certificate for inclusion in an e- or paper portfolio.
