Improving injections

New guidance has been published on how to reduce the risk of mistakes being made when patients are being injected during anaesthesia procedures. The recommendations were made by the Association of Anaesthetists and include an emphasis on the importance of using prefilled and labelled syringes as well as colour-coded medication trays. They also advise making the most of technological solutions for reducing the risk of errors and standardising practices and processes.

The guidance was published in the journal Anaesthesia and written by a group of UK anaesthesia experts. They said: “Peri-operative medication safety is complex. Avoidance of medication errors is both system- and practitioner-based, and many departments within the hospital contribute to safe and effective systems.

“For the individual anaesthetist, drawing up, labelling and then the correct administration of medications are key components. These guidelines aim to provide pragmatic safety steps for the practitioner and other individuals within the operative environment, as well as short- to long-term goals for development of a collaborative approach to reducing errors. The aim is that they will be used as a basis for instilling good practice.”

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