News & Events

'Time to take your medicine'...

Osborne Park Hospital along with the Safety and Quality reform program, SQuIRe has launched a medications safety campaign for patients.

Bright yellow bags are being issued to patients or their carers to encourage them to fill the bag with all the medications (including over-the-counter items) that patients have been taking up to their hospital admission.

The bags of medications are then reviewed by pharmacists at OPH.

The campaign aims to minimise medication errors for hospital patients. "Medication errors are one of the most frequently reported incidents in hospitals," said OPH Chief Pharmacist Peter Merralls.

"Adverse drug events related to medication errors, such as omissions and overdoses, can cause serious harm - so it is very important to improve medication safety.

"As well as liaising with patients, families and carers, OPH Pharmacists are contacting other hospitals, GPs and pharmacies to ensure the list of medications with the patient on admission is accurate and complete."

He said pharmacists, nurses and doctors were working together to ensure that the real scope of the issue was reflected through AIMS (Australian Incident Monitoring System).

Smoke-free success at OPH

From 1 January smoking - whether by patients, visitors or staff - has been banned throughout the buildings and grounds at Osborne Park Hospital.

The move to a smoke-free site is proceeding successfully. A number of staff have quit smoking while using support services offered by the hospital, and clinical staff have started training in quit support interventions for patients.

Nicotine replacement therapy is available to staff seeking to quit and offered to inpatients who are smokers. Quitting and smoke-free policy advice pamphlets for prospective patients are also being distributed at pre-admission clinics and other locations.

Posters throughout the hospital sum it up: "Celebrate our clean air environment".

Last modified: 20th May 2009.