Time to review how injectable medicines are prepared and administered in European hospitals

Abstract

It has been known, for decades, that the use of injectable medicines in European hospitals has been associated with frequent medication errors, some of which cause preventable severe harms and deaths. There have been national and European inquiries and reports concerning improving patient safety by recommending greater use of pharmacy aseptic preparation services and provision of ready-to administer injectables, which have not been widely implemented.In England experience of treating patients with COVID-19 infections has brought into focus other benefits of significantly extending pharmacy aseptic preparation services. These benefits include saving nursing time, having systems in place which have resilience and capacity, reducing variation in practice, improving clinical staff and patient experience, and enabling more injectable medicines to be administered to patients at home. It has also been recognised that more action is required to standardise policies and procedures for injectable medicines and implement the use of smart infusion devices with dose error reduction software, to help minimise drug administration errors.Hospital pharmacists have a key role in developing these services to bring European hospitals more in line with those provided by hospital pharmacies in North America.