Parents 'Not Told of Drug
Errors'
Research published in the
journal Archives of Disease in Childhood, and reported by the BBC said
almost half the parents whose children received the wrong medication after
hospital mistakes were never informed of the error, research has found.
The survey, covered five
years of work at a paediatric teaching hospital in Scotland. But the level of
secrecy surrounding the blunders did surprise the researchers.
The study was carried out
at the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Glasgow - one of the UK's leading
specialist centres for children and babies requiring complex and risky
treatment.
It found that one mistake
occurred for every 662 patients admitted to the hospital, although most of
these happened in children under the age of two.
Three-fifths of the
mistakes happened on medical wards, and six out of ten were made by nurses,
rather than doctors, as nurses are often responsible for measuring out the right
quantity of drugs for patients.
Most of the errors were
classed as "minor", even though 10% required some extra treatment to
rectify.
The study authors said they
believed doctors and nurses in some cases recorded the incident as minor in
order to deflect criticism and possible repercussions.
However, in 48% of cases,
the parents were never told what had happened to their children.
ALL
INFORMATION, DATA, AND MATERIAL CONTAINED, PRESENTED, OR PROVIDED HERE IS FOR
GENERAL INFORMATION PURPOSES ONLY AND IS NOT TO BE CONSTRUED AS REFLECTING THE
KNOWLEDGE OR OPINIONS OF THE PUBLISHER, AND IS NOT TO BE CONSTRUED OR INTENDED
AS PROVIDING MEDICAL OR LEGAL ADVICE. THE DECISION WHETHER OR NOT TO
VACCINATE IS AN IMPORTANT AND COMPLEX ISSUE AND SHOULD BE MADE BY YOU, AND YOU
ALONE, IN CONSULTATION WITH YOUR HEALTH CARE PROVIDER.