Errors in your medication are one of the most serious risks in healthcare, and they can unfortunately be fairly common.
No matter your injury or medical condition, it’s so important to be on top of things and understand the responsibilities of your healthcare team. If you’ve received the wrong prescription or taken things that you shouldn’t have, it’s essential to know your next steps.
What are the most common medication errors?
There are a variety of ways you can be given the wrong prescription from your pharmacy. Just a few examples could include:
- Being prescribed the wrong medication,
- Being advised to take an incorrect dose,
- Receiving the medication in the incorrect form,
- Being given an incorrect amount,
- Encountering a failure to consider your health needs (for example, your prescription could conflict with another of your medications or an allergy).
Whenever you receive a prescription, you should check it over carefully. Always take time to review your medical history and the document given by your doctor or GP. If you forget to do this, here’s how to go about your next steps.
1. Try to keep calm
Taking the wrong medication or missing out on the active ingredients you need can make anyone panic. This will affect your ability to think clearly and make the right decision, so first, calm down.
Stop taking the medication immediately and monitor how you feel. If the situation is serious and you start to become unwell, it’s important to contact the necessary service, such as calling 111 or 999 in an emergency.
2. Contact your pharmacy
Next, you should try to get in touch with your doctor or local healthcare provider and explain the situation. You could do this in person or over the phone outside of usual working hours.
You should also contact the pharmacy and explain things. Make sure to keep any medicine that has been given to you, plus any packaging or receipts.
3.Report the incident
As this is a patient safety incident, it’s imperative that you report what’s happened to the NHS or a specific healthcare provider.
Once they know about what you’ve experienced, they can take the necessary action and learn from the mistakes. Regardless of whether this resulted in harm or not, you should report it to the National Reporting and Learning System (NRLS). You may also choose to make a complaint, which must be done separately.
Events such as this can have harmful and long-lasting effects for patients, leading to a range of side effects and long-term conditions. If your situation caused you harm, you may be eligible to claim due to medical negligence.
4. Persevere
Finally, although it may seem difficult, one of your most important responsibilities now is to continue to advocate for your healthcare.
Whether you were receiving treatment for a long-term condition or needed surgery after an injury, you deserve to feel strong again. While it might not be as simple as bouncing back to full health, getting the right medicine and treatment plays a part.
It’s understandable if you feel concerned about medical care in the future. But you should try to remember that professionals strive for the best possible care, and you’ve been unfortunate to receive anything below that in the past.
