Pharmacists write better drug charts

Pharmacists are more accurate, safer prescribers than junior doctors, Australian research suggests.

A study in a Brisbane hospital preadmission clinic found medication charts completed by a trained prescribing pharmacist contained significantly fewer drug errors and unclear orders than those written by resident medical officers (RMOs).

Medication charts completed by the pharmacist had errors in only 0.2% of orders, compared with 6.3% in charts