Information for the public
Mistakes with medicines
Mistakes with medicines
Sometimes mistakes are made with medicines which may cause harm. An example of this is being given the wrong medicine. Patients can also make mistakes with their medicines, for example because they have misunderstood an instruction.
Organisations have processes in place to try to make sure that mistakes don't happen. However, if they do, health and social care practitioners should identify and report any mistakes with medicines as soon as possible. To help find out when mistakes happen, patient surveys may be carried out, and health professionals may review your medical records and watch other staff administering your medicines in hospital, for example. Health and social care practitioners should make sure that you or your family or carers know how to identify mistakes with your medicines, who you should tell about them and how you go about doing this. Reporting mistakes helps to ensure that they are less likely to happen again in the future.