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- National Inpatient Medication Chart 2009 National Audit
- Medication Safety Updates
- Medication Safety Update January 2010 (PDF 124 KB)
- Medication Safety Update July 2009 (PDF 131 KB)
- Medication Safety Update January 2009 (PDF 109 KB)
- National Medication Safety and Quality Scoping Study
- National Report 2008
- Private Hospital VTE Prevention Program
- National Parenteral Medicines Labelling Project
- National Labelling Recommendations for Parenteral Medicines, Fluids and Lines
- National implementation plan based on the recommendations and reflecting national standards
- Education package in electronic format to support implementation of the national labelling recommendations.
- Antimicrobial Stewardship
National Medication Safety and Quality Scoping Study Committee Report April 2009 (PDF 1882 KB)
The Commission’s 2008 National Report Windows into Safety and Quality in Health Care, chapter 4 (PDF 521 KB) on medication safety (only).
The Commission’s 2008 National Report Windows into Safety and Quality in Health Care, the full report (PDF 3637 KB).
The Commission is funding the National Health and Medical Research Council to work with private hospitals on reducing the incidence of venous thromboembolism (VTE) in Australian private hospitals. More details are available from the National Health and Medical Research Council website.
Through its National Institute of Clinical Studies, the Council undertook a large program in 2006-2007 to reduce venous thromboembolism in Australian public hospitals with considerable success. The Commission is funding the Council to extend the benefits of that program to the private hospital sector and to make recommendations on how the improved outcomes can be embedded and spread throughout the sector.
The program is due to conclude in June 2009 and report by December 2009.
The Council, through its website, makes available for free to all hospitals the range of materials used by hospitals participating in the program. This is to encourage increased VTE risk assessment and best practice VTE prevention prophylaxis.
The Commission is funding the NSW Therapeutic Advisory Group Ltd to extend its existing work on parenteral labelling recommendations (PDF 755 KB) to have national application. Concluding in May 2010, the project will deliver
The potential for medication errors related to the administration of injectable medicines is recognised on a national and international level. In the US, the Joint Commission introduced National Patient Safety Goals in 2008, including the provision of labelling for syringes. In the UK, the National Patient Safety Agency introduced two Safety Alerts in 2007 to cover safer use of injectable medicines and safer practice with epidural injections and infusions. Two Australian Standards apply to labelling of parenteral medicines. However, their extent is limited and falls short of detailed guidance for best practice in this area.
It is anticipated that the number of poor patient outcomes related to injectable medicines will be reduced by nationally implementing recommendations, based on principles of best practice, which clarify labelling procedures.
Contact for the project is Ms Diana Shipp on (02) 8382 2852 and nswtag@stvincents.com.au.
For information about the Antimicrobial Stewardship program, please see the Healthcare Associated Infection web page.
