Draft Pharmacy (Preparation and Dispensing Errors - Hospital and Other Pharmacy Services) Order 2022 Draft Pharmacy (Responsible Pharmacists, Superintendent Pharmacists etc.) Order 2022

Feryal Clark Excerpts

Monday 6th June 2022 General Committees

[Feryal Clark (Enfield North) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Sharma.

It is the first duty of any Government to keep people safe, especially through the safe and secure running of our health service. Pharmacies play a crucial role in our healthcare system across the country, so it is vital that we put measures in place to ensure they are run with the safety of patients front and centre. Any steps that the Government take to do that are to be welcomed and, for that reason, we will be supporting the statutory instrument.

Managing and securing the pharmacy dispensing process is a significant challenge. More than one billion prescriptions were dispensed last year; with numbers like that, it is impossible to completely eradicate all errors. Given the vast numbers of prescriptions being dispensed, the error rate is remarkably low and pharmacists should be applauded for that. However, that does not mean we can sit back and relax, as more can and must be done to ensure patients are protected.

As well as patients, it is right that the statutory instrument looks at the effect on pharmacy staff. Most healthcare professional groups do not face criminal conviction and potential imprisonment for an inadvertent dispensing error, and it would be wrong for pharmacists to be the only group to do so. Therefore, it is welcome that the SI extends legal protections to pharmacists working in a range of locations, such as prisons, hospitals and care homes. Pharmacists working in those settings are often under increased stress, which has been exacerbated by the challenges of the pandemic. The Pharmaceutical Journal recently found there had been an approximate doubling in pharmacists reporting feeling “stressed” compared with previous years.

As they often work in pressured circumstances, it is right that we protect pharmacists, who are often people’s first point of contact with the healthcare system and are too often victims of abuse, from unintended mistakes. Ensuring the right to legal defence against prosecution in cases relating to inadvertent error will undoubtedly remove some of the fears these clinicians feel in admitting errors, helping to prevent and reduce patient harm through taking the wrong medication or dosage.

We welcome the greater clarity that the SI provides about how those legal defences are applied, but we have some concerns. There remain a number of offences that do not have a corresponding statutory defence laid out in the SI. Will the Minister put on record the offences for which no statutory defences are provided and the reasoning behind the decisions about them?

A key facet of the SI is the greater culture of transparency that providing security to pharmacists should hopefully foster, as set out by the Minister. Rather than creating a point-and-blame culture, we need a system that recognises errors in dispensing and preparation of medicines and puts active steps in place to ensure that they are not repeated. It is, however, absolutely right that the SI focuses on inadvertent errors. Where errors are made deliberately through staff acting in a negligent way, they will and must continue to face criminal prosecution—something we fully support.

There are a number of outstanding points that I would appreciate the Minister covering in her reply. There is particular concern about the reporting process for dispensing errors, which at present is at risk of letting too many fall through the gap. Only 5% of dispensing errors made each year are reported, making it very difficult for us to get a proper picture of the potential harm they are causing. Is the Minister therefore concerned that the 2017 legislation designed to increase protections has been largely unsuccessful in encouraging honesty among pharmacy staff? I would be grateful to hear what plans she has to ensure the number of errors being reported increases.

Furthermore, what steps will the Minister take to ensure pharmacists feel safe to come forward if they have made a dispensing error? The people affected by the legislation are often more isolated in their workplaces, without the benefit of a robust and easily accessible professional support network, so I would appreciate it if the Minister outlined how she will ensure that those affected by these changes are properly informed about them.

We are always looking to make further strides in the area of patient safety, and the orders are by no means the end of the road on this issue, but they are a welcome step. I look forward to the Minister announcing further improvements in the area in due course.