Quality standard
Quality statement 6 (developmental): Prescription information on drug avoidance
Quality statement 6 (developmental): Prescription information on drug avoidance
Developmental quality statements set out an emerging area of service delivery or technology currently found in a minority of providers and indicating outstanding performance. They will need specific, significant changes to be put in place, such as redesign of services or new equipment.
Developmental quality statement
People with a drug allergy have information included on their prescriptions about which drugs or drug classes to avoid.
Rationale
Recording information on drug avoidance on a prescription is important for patient safety. Expert opinion suggests that only some hospitals have prescription forms which include drug allergy status.
Quality measures
The following measures can be used to assess the quality of care or service provision specified in the statement. They are examples of how the statement can be measured, and can be adapted and used flexibly.
Structure
Evidence of local arrangements to ensure that prescriptions have drug allergy information included about which drugs or drug classes to avoid.
Data source: Local data collection.
Process
a) Proportion of paper prescriptions issued in any healthcare setting which have drug allergy information included about which drugs or drug classes to avoid.
Numerator – the number in the denominator which have drug allergy information about which drugs or drug classes to avoid.
Denominator – the number of paper prescriptions issued in any healthcare setting.
Data source: Local data collection.
b) Proportion of electronic prescriptions issued in any healthcare setting which have drug allergy information included about which drugs or drug classes to avoid.
Numerator – the number in the denominator which have drug allergy information about which drugs or drug classes to avoid.
Denominator – the number of electronic prescriptions issued in any healthcare setting.
Data source: Local data collection.
What the quality statement means for different audiences
Service providers (secondary care) ensure that people with a drug allergy have information included on their prescriptions about which drugs or drug classes to avoid.
Healthcare professionals issue prescriptions which have drug allergy information included about which drugs or drug classes to avoid.
Commissioners (NHS England area teams) commission services in which people with a drug allergy have information included on their prescriptions about which drugs or drug classes to avoid.
People with a drug allergy are given prescriptions which include information on any drugs or types of drug that they should avoid.
Source guidance
Drug allergy: diagnosis and management. NICE guideline CG183 (2014), recommendation 1.2.4