Adverse drug reactions particularly affect people who use several drugs at the same time for a long time. About five percent of all hospital admissions are due to adverse drug reactions, a quarter of which could be avoided. This means that an estimated 250,000 hospital admissions per year are due to avoidable medication errors.
In August 2016, the Federal Ministry of Health presented the “Action plan to improve drug therapy safety in Germany” for the years 2016 to 2019. It was developed with the participation of doctors, pharmacists, the German Hospital Society, the Patient Safety Action Alliance, the German Nursing Council and patient associations.
The action plan includes 42 measures, including raising awareness among patients, doctors, pharmacists, nurses and the public of avoidable risks of drug therapy, improved labeling of drugs, and documentation of drug therapy and measurement of drug therapy safety.
The three previous action plans on drug therapy safety have already made important contributions to improving patient safety since 2008. From October 2016, all insured persons who use at least three prescribed medications are entitled to a paper medication plan. From 2018, the medication plan should also be available electronically from the health card.
The “International Patient Safety Day” is sponsored by the Federal Ministry of Health. The day was first proclaimed in 2015 by the Patient Safety Action Alliance (APS) and its international partners.
The Federal Ministry of Health is planning an international event on patient safety in Bonn in May 2017, thus continuing the German-British initiative from this year.