Guest blogs

Over the past few years, technology has been a driver for better patient care, from the proliferation of electronic medical records, continuous monitoring on general floors, to data analytics turning output from multiple inputs into useful information that can improve health, wellbeing, and patient outcomes.

As a patient, it is often hard to find patience during changes of regulation for a chronic condition. Whether it is changing medicines, doctors, time zones, or even diagnoses, finding trust in the process is inevitably challenging.

There is a consensus that improving consent will help patients understand the benefits and risks of the procedure they are considering, as well as the benefits and risks of the alternatives, including doing nothing…

Established in 1964 to protect and improve patient safety, the Yellow Card scheme is the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency’s (MHRA) system for collecting suspected side effects or adverse incidents involving medicines, vaccines, and medical devices.

‘First Do no harm’ should be the golden thread that is woven throughout all healthcare systems. Sadly, the reality is that despite the implementation of significant initiatives designed to improve systems and processes, many instances of avoidable harm still occur on a regular basis…

‘In my foreword to the report of the Independent Medicines and Medical Devices Safety Review, I did not attempt to summarise all our nine recommendations or other aspects of our review…’