Reducing waste and errors By Nathalie Wardé Dunoyer, D4Ppharma
Unit dose dispensing is a potential answer to demands for less waste and a means to avoid medication errors. he healthcare sector is at risk with significant losses caused by avoidable errors. An alarming report published by McKinsey records US$ 50–100 billion lost due to improper administration of drugs in hospitals only, US$ 18–115 billion lost because of follow-up of medication errors, such as longer stay hospitals, disabilities, deaths, and more than 100,000 deaths annually, meaning that patients could be at risk of suffering avoidable harm from healthcare. On the top of this, in our globalised world, medicinal products are manufactured and distributed in complex supply chains. Effective oversight of the supply chain is weakened, raising the risk of falsified medicines entering the market and increasing inefficiencies such as stockouts or expired products. This can lead to a loss of public confidence, which eventually results in reduced adherence to treatment. Supply chain risks and errors are inevitable, so the challenge is to reduce the frequency and impact of such events..
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Regulatory guidance Regulators, such as the WHO, EDQM and national agencies all around the world, provide guidance to develop and implement tools to reduce risk and improve safety. More than 80% of countries have implemented regulations on the traceability of medical products in an attempt to fight falsification.
all healthcare professionals to educate patients on ways to reduce waste, and lowering the risk of accumulation of unused medicines. In this context in France, a law dated February 10, 2020, indicates that the dispensing of certain drugs at the pharmacy could be done by unit as of January 2022.
The fight against waste and the circular economy could also lead to another positive impact in reducing the risk of medication errors. In the context of making Europe climate neutral in 2050, the European Commission published a set of policies, known as The European Green Deal. This impacts the healthcare sector in many ways; reviewing measures to address pollution from large industrial installations, involving
A recent report published by the French Academy of Pharmacy describes the current dispensing methods in hospitals or in pharmacies within the framework of Multi Dose Dispensing (MDD), mainly for establishment for dependent elderly persons. The report aims to be objective and does not really take a position. However, it recalls the regulatory framework in force in France for dispensing and underlines
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