The Ministry of Health, together with the autonomous communities and cities, patient associations and scientific societies, has signed up to the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) ‘Medication without Harm’ campaign on the occasion of World Patient Safety Day, which will be celebrated on 17 September.
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This campaign promotes safe practices in the use of medicines, the prevention of errors and the reduction of harm with medication. According to epidemiological studies carried out in Spain, 37.4% of adverse events are related to medication in hospitalised patients (ENEAS study) and 48% in primary care (APEAS study), of which around 35% and 59%, respectively, could be avoided by applying safe practices in the use of medicines.
Incidents involving the use of medicines account for around 20% of those reported in the Patient Safety Notification and Learning System (SiNASP), promoted by the Ministry of Health, and represent the most frequent type of incident reported.
According to a recent publication by the Ministry of Health, among the highest risk medication errors are those related to incorrect patient identification, errors in prescribing or administering medication to people with allergies or previously known adverse effects, or errors in calculating doses in the most vulnerable patients.
Errors associated with the use of medicines are a public health problem and although they are most frequent during the administration of the medicine, they can occur at any stage of medicine use and in all care settings.
According to the WHO, medication-related harm accounts for 50% of all avoidable harm in healthcare with an associated cost estimated at $42 billion annually.
Scientific day
On the occasion of World Patient Safety Day 2022, and within the framework of the National Health System’s Patient Safety Strategy, the Ministry of Health organised a scientific conference in collaboration with the Spanish Society for Healthcare Quality (SECA) with the aim of raising awareness of this issue among the population, healthcare professionals, healthcare administration officials and healthcare centre managers and directors.