{
  "abstract": "A two-hour engagement event at a tertiary paediatric hospital explored staff and public views on medicine safety. Games and Quizzes were put on and pharmacy staff asked all who engaged to talk about medicine safety. Comments were captured on stick-notes. All comments were themed independently by 3 pharmacists and assigned to ‘staff’ or ‘public’.Over 300 participants attended, with an even split between staff (mainly nurses and doctors) and members of the public (primarily carers of paediatric patients Three themed questions were used to guide feedback analysis and some key comments recorded for each, with specific quotes.1. What does medicine safety mean to you?Carers mainly focused on keeping their child safe: ‘it means making sure you guys don’t kill my daughter’.Staff focused on the 5 Rs of medicine practice and often mentioned ‘following the rules’2. What are your concerns about medicine safety?Most carers had no concerns and were happy that safety processes were in place. They ‘put trust in health care professionals’. Others had most concerns about themselves and were ‘afraid to do something wrong’ with respect to their child’s medicines.For staff the overwhelming themes were about ‘time constraints’ and also the need to know so much – ‘information overload’.3. How do you see medicine safety being improved?This theme had the most diversity from staff and carers with many very specific points raised as well as some broad thoughts.Public responses centred on keeping children safe, trust in professionals, and the need for more practical support and clear information (‘please put on some workshops’). They were very concerned about side effects of medicines (particularly those that changed the personality of their child): ‘nicer chemo please!’. Practical improvements were also key issues, with ‘easier dosing’, ‘simpler labels’ and ‘drug names that can be remembered’ all being discussed. Accessing medicines also seemed a common issue: ‘never know what I can get from my GP’.Staff wanted more practical guidance:‘dosing in obese children’ and ‘we need more decision support in EPR’. They also focused on safe use of medicines: ‘finger-print access to medicines’, ‘understanding disposal of medicines’. Assurance of correct practice was also important: ‘how do we ensure staff read guidelines’, ‘we need more pharmacists at weekend’, ‘how do we ensure proper second-checking?’.Conclusion This engagement event elicited a wide range of insights from staff and carers on the topic of medicine safety. Whilst carers were generally reassured by the safety measures in place within the health service, many expressed concerns about their own abilities to deliver medicines safely to their own child. The need for greater support and clearer information emerged as a key theme. Healthcare professional generally concentrated on adherence to protocols and guidance, highlighting time constraints and cognitive burden as barriers to safe practice. They could identify many issues that they believe would support safer medicines practice for children. Further work is needed to explore these themes in depth and implement meaningful changes.",
  "authors": [
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Pharmacy Dept, Great Ormond Street Hospital, UK"
      ],
      "name": "Iek Leng Cheng"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Pharmacy Dept, Great Ormond Street Hospital, UK"
      ],
      "name": "Ka Yu Yung"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Pharmacy Dept, Great Ormond Street Hospital, UK"
      ],
      "name": "Stephen Tomlin"
    }
  ],
  "title": "SP4 Defining paediatric medicine safety through public and staff engagement",
  "uid": "3c916e72-8e07-5a3a-941d-54e8315eaf0e"
}