National Medications Chart Arrives at MDHB

04/04/2011 | National Medications Chart Arrives at MDHB

The National Medications Chart was successfully launched at MidCentral Health today (April 4 2011).

MidCentral Health was one of the first big DHBs to launch the new chart and the transition went smoothly Chief Pharmacist Lorraine Welman said.

“Everyone has been very supportive of the changes made in the interests of patient safety. It has been a wonderful example of how many staff across MidCentral Health work together to achieve a common goal.

“Positive feedback has been received from staff that are open to this change and eager to get the new chart up and running.”

A lot of work was done behind the scenes to facilitate a smooth rollout of the new chart. This involved working with all professional groups, including consultation and risk assessment in all areas about how the chart will be used and what difficulties may arise once it has taken into effect.
Development of a national medications chart (NMC) has been ongoing since 2003 and involved collaboration from a range of health professionals to design a single national chart. A general version of the NMC has been piloted in three DHB clinical areas (general medicine, cardiology, and care of the elderly) and refinements to the NMC have been made.

Much of the benefit of having a national medication chart in terms of patient safety comes from standardisation in the design. Health professionals routinely move between hospitals as part of their training and career advancement. A standardised chart allows for undergraduate training to incorporate education on the national medication chart and its use. A national training package can be developed to allow education for non-New Zealand trained health professionals entering the New Zealand hospital system. Additionally there will be reduced duplication of effort in designing medication charts.

Contact: Communications Unit (06) 350-8945