KUCHING: Everyone should know about medication safety so that medical errors which can either harm patients’ health or endanger their lives do not occur, said Sarawak General Hospital director Dr Chin Zin Hing yesterday.
He stated this while officiating at the Medication Safety Awareness Week themed ‘Know, Check, Ask’ on behalf of Sarawak Health Department director Dr Jamilah Hashim here at the SGH Auditorium.
“Healthcare professionals also have the responsibility to empower patients and the public
to know their medications, check the doses and time and ask their pharmacists or other healthcare professionals if they are unsure,” he said.
Dr Chin stressed that this empowerment was important because the patients were the last fortress to catch and prevent medical errors from occurring.
“Patients who understand and recognise their medication will help ensure safe, effective and rational use of the drugs,” he added.
The theme of the Medication Safety Awareness Week, he explained, was based on the World Health Organisation (WHO) Medication Without Harm campaign which began in 2017 with the aim of reducing the risks of harm related to medical errors by 50 percent in the next 5 years.
Sarawak Health Department (Pharmacy) deputy director Abu Hassan Alshaari Abd Jabar noted that medical mistakes could occur anywhere as well as anytime and it would produce side effects that were either light, moderate or harmful to the patients.
“According to a study, approximately 200,000 lives in America were sacrificed due to medication mistakes. The number of lives lost is the equivalent of two Boeing 737 planes crashing daily. Although many initiatives have been taken to address such incidents, unfortunately medication error cases are reported to be on the rise each year.
“Medication errors can occur in any process of medication administration, from the time the medication is prescribed by a doctor, transferred to a computer, filled and dispensed by a pharmacist, given by a nurse or consumed by the patient themselves,” he said.
Abu Hassan advised nurses and medical officers that the moment, a medication error occured at the health department’s facility and was detected, all officers were advised to fill out the Medication Error Reporting form to enable the error to be investigated and preventive measures identified.
“This goal is not punitive in nature where the officers who made the mistakes are to be blamed and
punished.
“Studies have shown that most medication errors are caused by system problems and not staff negligence. Therefore, all staff need not be afraid to report medical errors and as a matter of fact, all staff are encouraged to make this report so that system weaknesses can be identified and addressed,” he explained.
All nurses and medical officers of Sarawak General Hospital (SGH) are taking part in a Medication Safety Awareness Week which began yesterday and ends today.
A total of 17 talks on medical safety and actions are held to prevent medical errors from occurring in hospitals and clinics.
The two-day programme featured ten exhibition booths which highlighted the importance of medication safety and pharmaceutical services such as public health consulting in the foyer auditorium.
Also present at the launch of the Medication Safety Awareness Week yesterday were Sarawak Health Department (Dental) deputy director Dr Ishak Shaifuddin Ibrahim, Chief Pharmacist Stanley Riget, SGH heads of departments, nurses and medical officers.
