Summary of prescribing errors by prescriber and prescribing stage
| Prescriber | Description | Prescribing stage | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| On admission | During stay | Rewritten | Leave | Discharge | Unknown | |||
| FY1* | Items written/omitted | 28 | 68 | 46 | 17 | 57 | 0 | 216 |
| Errors found | 1 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 11 | |
| Error rate (95% CIs) (%) | 3.6 (0.0–10.6%) | 4.4 (0.0–9.3%) | 4.3 (0.0–10.3%) | 0 (NA) | 8.8 (1.4–16.2) | – | 5.1 (2.2–8.0) | |
| FY2 | Items written/omitted | 95 | 124 | 179 | 79 | 59 | 0 | 536 |
| Errors found | 5 | 9 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 26 | |
| Error rate (95% CIs) (%) | 5.3 (0.7–9.8) | 7.3 (2.7–11.8) | 2.8 (0.4–5.2) | 6.3 (0.9–11.7) | 3.4 (0.0–8.0) | – | 4.9 (3.0–6.7) | |
| Specialty Trainee† | Items written/omitted | 582 | 734 | 636 | 114 | 270 | 0 | 2336 |
| Errors found | 67 | 50 | 26 | 3 | 13 | 0 | 159 | |
| Error rate (95% CIs) (%) | 11.5 (8.9–14.1) | 6.8 (5.0–8.6) | 4.1 (2.5–5.6) | 2.6 (0.0–5.6) | 4.8 (2.3–7.4) | – | 6.8 (5.8–7.8) | |
| Staff Grade Psychiatrist | Items written/omitted | 42 | 148 | 203 | 18 | 38 | 16 | 465 |
| Errors found | 10 | 9 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 30 | |
| Error rate (95% CIs) (%) | 23.8 (10.8–36.9) | 6.1 (2.2–9.9) | 2.5 (0.3–4.6) | 11.1 (0.0–26.1) | 10.5 (0.6–20.4) | 0% | 6.5 (4.2–8.7) | |
| Consultant Psychiatrist | Items written/omitted | 30 | 378 | 124 | 13 | 38 | 3 | 586 |
| Errors found | 3 | 23 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 34 | |
| Error rate (95% CIs) (%) | 10.0 (0.0–20.9) | 6.1 (3.7–8.5) | 3.2 (0.1–6.3) | 0 | 10.5 (0.6–20.4) | 0% | 5.8 (3.9–7.7) | |
| Pharmacist Prescriber | Items written/omitted | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 10 |
| Errors found | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Error rate (95% CIs) (%) | – | 0 | – | – | 0% | – | 0 | |
| Nurse Prescriber | Items written/omitted | 0 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| Errors found | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Error rate (95% CIs) (%) | – | 0 | – | – | – | – | 0 | |
| Unknown Prescriber | Items written/omitted | 86 | 63 | 85 | 6 | 26 | 0 | 266 |
| Errors found | 6 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 21 | |
| Error rate (95% CIs) (%) | 7% (1.6–12.4) | 9.5 (2.2–16.8) | 4.7 (0.2–9.2) | 16.7 (0.0–49.3) | 15.4 (1.2–29.5) | – | 7.9 (4.6–11.1) | |
| TOTAL | Items written/omitted | 863 | 1530 | 1273 | 247 | 495 | 19 | 4427 |
| Errors found | 92 | 100 | 46 | 11 | 32 | 0 | 281 | |
| Error rate (95% CIs) (%) | 10.7 (8.6–12.7) | 6.5 (5.3–7.8) | 3.6 (2.6–4.6) | 4.5 (1.9–7) | 6.5 (4.3–8.6) | 0% | 6.3 (5.6–7.1) | |
*The foundation year (FY) programme corresponds to the first two years of medical training for junior doctors after completion of their undergraduate degree, and is similar to internships or residencies in other countries.
†Specialty trainees include general practitioner trainee (GPST) and psychiatry trainee (CT and ST) medical grades; FY, foundation year.