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Press releases 2005
United KingdomAlmus 'Patient Safety' Award won by 'Making Patient Safety a priority'
21 November 2005
Almus Pharmaceuticals is pleased to announce that Jonathan Burton, superintendent pharmacist at Danderhall Pharmacy, Danderhall, Scotland, has won the Almus 'Patient Safety' award, the first award of its type for UK pharmacies. Jonathan's entry, 'Making Patient Safety a Priority', appealed to the judges because of its 'think safe, work safe' programme, designed to motivate and train staff in a patient safe practice. The award was presented by Ornella Barra, Executive Director, Alliance UniChem, at the UniChem Great Business Awards held on 18 November 2005 at The Royal Lancaster Hotel, London.
"The winning entry recognised that patient safety is not just a 'one-off' piece of work, but requires integration into all areas of daily pharmacy practice and management to ensure high standards of clinical care," said Tony Foreman, CEO, Almus Pharmaceuticals, and Group Director of Commercial Activities, Alliance UniChem.
The Almus 'Patient Safety' award recognises the expertise of pharmacists and technicians in creating practical solutions to minimise patient safety incidents. Creating a platform for best practice in patient safety, the award attracted a diverse range of entries from pharmacists in Scotland, England and Wales.
The award entry submitted by Jonathan Burton was chosen by judges because of its 'think safe, work safe' programme which included posters, monthly newsletters and a dispensary training safety pack - designed to complement Dispensing Assistant coursework being undertaken by staff at the time and accompanied by a Q&A in a highly readable format. The programme also demonstrated a positive approach to recording, understanding and anticipating patient safety incidents with a 'traffic light' system of coloured forms: red for dispensing error records, yellow for 'near miss' records and green for dispensing improvements and patient safe ideas.
Award winner Jonathan Burton commented:
"Patient safety is essential for pharmacies but it does not get the attention it deserves. Mistakes can have a negative impact on business and standards of care for our patients, making it a key issue. However, it is not a subject that gets sufficient coverage or is discussed enough among professionals.
Patient safety is an interest that has developed from necessity : wanting to gear up for the new pharmacy contract, but believing this was not possible without solid foundations from which to offer additional services and sufficient standards of clinical care.
What happens if the basics are not right? It is difficult to work off shaky foundations - procedures on safety need to be as secure as possible. How to prevent errors, how to handle them etc. People tend to treat patient safety as a 'one-off' piece of work, but we humans are creatures of habit. Dispensing errors are still happening as a result of confusion between similar looking packaging. Patient safety deserves our constant attention in pharmacy - and this is what led me to develop the safety materials found in 'Making Patient Safety a Priority'."