COMPARISON AND EVALUATION OF DISPENSING ERRORS FROM 2017 TO 2018 AT KING ABDULAZIZ MEDICAL CITY (KAMC) AND KING ABDULLAH SPECIALIZED CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL (KASCH), RIYADH, THROUGH THE SAFETY REPORTING SYSTEM (SRS)

Any errors in medical dispensing may threaten the patient’s life. Hence, this research aimed to compare and evaluate the dispensing errors and to identify its prevalence and severity through the safety reporting system (SRS) and providing feedback at “King Abdulaziz Medical City, Central Region (KAMC-CR)” and “King Abdullah Specialized Children’s Hospital (KASCH)”.The KAMC-SRS was used to collect data on dispensing errors. In order to analyze the dispensing errors, the reasons for the errors were reviewed and the errors were classified. In order to study and categorize the medication error data, the “National Coordinating Council for Medication Error Reporting and Prevention (NCCMERP)” index was utilized. Out of 3017 safety reports submitted to the SRS during 2017, the number of dispensing errors recorded was 448 (14.84% of the errors). Out of 2381 safety reports submitted to the SRS in 2018, approximately 18% of dispensing errors were recorded, which were significant (p < 0.001). Generally, “KAMC and KASCH” pharmacies showed relatively low percentages of dispensing errors that did not exceed 0.01% of the total orders received. Furthermore, only a minority of the errors (2.6% at KASCH and 3% at KAMC in 2017 and 1% at KASCH and 2% at KAMC in 2018) reached the patients. Overall, the reporting of incidents increased in 2018, indicating good awareness of patient safety in the staff. Annual evaluation of dispensing errors will help to reduce these errors in the near future.