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Prescribing Safety Audit
What is a Prescribing Safety Audit?
Examples of how to use the golf term Albatross
- Use standardised audit tools and criteria based on NICE guidelines and local formularies
- Involve the whole multidisciplinary team including clinical pharmacists and practice nurses
- Establish clear action plans for addressing identified issues with designated responsibilities
- Share learning across the PCN to establish consistent prescribing standards
- Schedule regular follow-up audits to ensure sustained improvement
Examples of how to use the golf term Albatross
- The clinical pharmacist completed a Prescribing Safety Audit which identified several patients on high-dose opioids requiring medication review.
- Following the Prescribing Safety Audit, the PCN implemented a new protocol for monitoring patients on high-risk medications.
- The practice received positive feedback from NHS England for their comprehensive Prescribing Safety Audit methodology and subsequent quality improvement.
What does Prescribing Safety Audit mean?
A Prescribing Safety Audit is a structured process used in primary care networks to systematically review and evaluate medication prescribing practices against established safety standards. It aims to identify potential risks, medication errors, or inappropriate prescribing patterns to improve patient safety and clinical outcomes. These audits typically focus on high-risk medications, polypharmacy, and vulnerable patient groups.
How often should a Primary Care Network conduct Prescribing Safety Audits?
Primary Care Networks should conduct Prescribing Safety Audits regularly, with best practice suggesting quarterly audits focusing on different prescribing safety domains. Under the PCN Directed Enhanced Service contract, networks are required to complete specific safety audits annually, but many PCNs opt for more frequent reviews to maintain continuous quality improvement. The frequency may also increase following significant changes to prescribing guidelines or in response to safety alerts from regulatory bodies.
What are the key components of an effective Prescribing Safety Audit?
An effective Prescribing Safety Audit comprises several key components: clearly defined audit criteria based on national guidelines; comprehensive data collection across the PCN; systematic analysis of prescribing patterns; identification of high-risk patients or medications; development of targeted interventions; implementation of safety improvements; and follow-up evaluation to measure impact. The process should involve clinical pharmacists, GPs, and other healthcare professionals, with findings documented and shared to promote learning across the network.
How do Prescribing Safety Audits benefit patients in Primary Care?
Prescribing Safety Audits benefit patients by reducing medication-related harm, preventing adverse drug events, and improving therapeutic outcomes. These audits help identify patients at risk from high-dose medications, dangerous drug combinations, or inadequate monitoring. They can lead to deprescribing unnecessary medications, reducing polypharmacy burden, and ensuring patients receive optimal drug therapy aligned with current best practice. Ultimately, these audits enhance patient safety, improve quality of life, and can reduce hospital admissions related to medication issues.
What role do clinical pharmacists play in Prescribing Safety Audits within PCNs?
Clinical pharmacists play a pivotal role in Prescribing Safety Audits within PCNs. They typically lead the audit process by applying their specialist medication knowledge to identify high-risk prescribing patterns, develop audit criteria, analyse prescribing data, and recommend interventions. They conduct medication reviews for patients flagged during the audit, provide education to healthcare professionals on safer prescribing practices, and help implement system-wide improvements. Their expertise in medicines optimisation makes them ideally positioned to drive quality improvement in prescribing safety across the network.
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