Minister of Health Dr. Frank Anthony says in order to ensure patients safety and stop medication errors from occurring, continuous training will be provided to medical personnel.
The Health Minister made this statement as World Patient Safety 2022 was recently observed.
This day is specifically aimed at increasing public awareness and engagement, enhancing global understanding, and working towards enhancing patient safety and reducing patient harm.
“This would mean that we have to constantly train our staff, make sure that there is adherence to proper guidelines and if there is any doubt, for them to seek advice from more senior persons within the system," the Health Minister stated.
This he said will ensure that patients get the accurate medication and no one is adversely affected by wrong subscribed medication.
“One of the things that we want to make sure is that when people come to the health system, that patient feels safe, that they’re in a safe environment and whatever meds they’re getting, this is also the right and appropriate meds for health conditions.”
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), unsafe medication practices and medication errors are a leading cause of avoidable harm in health care across the world. Medication errors occur when weak medication systems and human factors such as fatigue, poor environmental conditions or staff shortages affect the safety of the medication use process. This can result in severe patient harm, disability and even death.
“For example, if the prescription is not properly filled, if there is a substitute medicine that is given, if the interaction between various medications are not taken into account, these can lead to complications for patients," Dr. Anthony added.
