Guernsey’s Health and Social Care (HSC) is participating in the fifth annual social media campaign called #MedSafetyWeek, which runs from 2 – 8 November 2020, to raise awareness about the importance of reporting suspected side effects from medicines to The Yellowcard Scheme.
The theme of the campaign is ‘every report counts’ and can help others in future.
This #MedSafetyWeek patients and carers, as well as healthcare professionals and their organisations, are called upon to report suspected side effects from medicines and are advised not to wait for someone else to report their suspicions. Anybody can report by logging onto yellowcard.mhra.gov.uk and following the instructions given on the website.
Medicines are safe and effective, but side effects, also known as adverse drug reactions, can happen. It’s hard to predict who will experience a side effect but it is essential that any potential risks, including how a medicine is used, are understood and communicated.
Reporting helps to identify new side effects or unexpected and serious safety problems and gain more information about known effects. By reporting, you can help make medicines safer for everyone, and you help the MHRA (Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (UK)) protect the public’s health through effective regulation.
Janine Clarke, Pharmacy Manager at HSC said: “Patient safety is always our top priority. We have identified many new safety issues that were unknown before they were reported to the MHRA via the Yellow Card Scheme; for example it was a concern of a Pharmacist in the UK that patients may inadvertently choke on the capsules they were using in their inhalers if they put the capsule in the wrong place, so it was reported to the MHRA who worked with the manufacturers to improve the inhaler design. We hope that this important campaign encourages everyone to report suspected side effects from medicines. Every report counts and contributes to improving the safety of medicines for all patients.”
