Authors (including presenting author) :
Wong MY (1), Ip NS (1), Wu HL (1), Lee KK (1), Tsoi TT (1), Lo HT (1), Lai MY (1), Chan KW(1), Ngok YL (1), Chung CY (1), Chan CY (1), Young WM (1), Lee KS (1), Yung L (1), Chu LMP (1)
Affiliation :
(1) Department of Pharmacy, Tuen Mun Hospital
Introduction :
Altering dosage forms of specially-formulated medicines may be required for patients with swallowing difficulties. The potential risks associated with such modifications include reduced stability and efficacy, increased side effects and occupational hazards. There are also legal implications when a medicine is not used in accordance with the product licence.
It can be time consuming and tedious to go through products inserts when there are doubts regarding whether certain formulations can be modified and sometimes the required information may not be specified in the product insert. This could result in delayed drug administration or unwanted effects if the medicine is inadvertently modified and administered.
Objectives :
This project aims to enhance medication administration safety through provision of verified and readily accessible information such that healthcare professionals can make timely, informed decision regarding whether an oral formulation is suitable for modification.
Methodology :
Medications labelled with ancillary instruction “Swallow with water (Do not chew)”, “Do not crush or chew the tablet” or related instructions were retrieved from the Hospital Drug Formulary for review. Administration information was gathered from products inserts and communication with manufacturers which was then consolidated, reviewed (by different pharmacists) and presented in a text-searchable electronic table.
Result & Outcome :
Results: One-hundred and eighty eight medicine entries have been included in the database, which can be accessed from the hospital intranet and is open to other healthcare personnel in Hospital Authority. Each entry provides basic information about the formulations and, if available, additional information on how the medicine can be prepared for administration for patients with swallowing difficulties or reasons on why a formulation should not be modified. Conclusion: An online database is created to provide readily accessible drug administration information for selected medications. This facilitates pharmacy staff in addressing enquiries from nursing staff, physicians and other healthcare professionals and enhances medication administration safety.
