Around 1 in 10 prescriptions contains errors, study finds

A new study has found that almost one in ten prescriptions written in hospitals contains errors.

Commissioned by the General Medical Council (GMC), the research discovered that some of the common mistakes made on prescriptions include illegible handwriting, unclear orders and failing to consider a patient’s allergies, the Telegraph reported.

As part of the study, 124,260 prescriptions were checked by pharmacists in 19 hospitals in England.

Overall, 11,077 errors were detected, but researchers warned that this could be a minimum figure, as other mistakes could have been picked up by pharmacists.

“Prescribing decisions in a hospital setting often have to be made quickly, so it is important that a procedure is as simple as possible to minimise the chance of an error being made,” explained Professor Peter Rubin, chairman of the GMC.

This news comes after research conducted by the National Patient Safety Agency in September found that errors in the issuing of drugs resulted in the deaths of 37 patients and the severe harm of a further 63 in 2007.