Description
Aim: To establish the nature and frequency of
discrepancies identified by pharmacy staff during medicines
reconciliation.(MR)
Methods: Pharmacy staff collected data prospectively
from 161 patients over a 1 week period, including
information on any prescription errors identified.
Results: In total, 62 patients (48%) taking one or more
medications prior to admission to hospital had one or more
discrepancies found by pharmacy staff during MR. The most
common discrepancy was omission of one or more drugs.
Conclusions: Pharmacy staff identified several
unintentional discrepancies in prescribing of medications at
admission to hospital. Doctors should ensure that intentional
changes to patient prescriptions are clearly documented.
