Evaluation of the Handling of High-risk Medications in the Basic Hospital Pharmacy in Ecuador

Abstract

Introduction: High-risk medications have a high probability of causing serious or even fatal harm when an error occurs in the course of their use, so they require special attention to minimize their risks and ensure patient safety.

Objective: To diagnose the management of high-risk drugs in a basic hospital in Ecuador.

Methods: A descriptive, prospective, observational research was conducted between September 2022-February 2023 in a basic hospital, whose pharmacy reviewed its database, inventory and monthly consumption kardex to identify high-risk drugs based on the list of high-risk drugs for hospitals of the Institute for the Safe Use of Medicines Spain 2022. The checklist on the management of high-risk drugs was applied to identify the process according to their storage, prescription, dispensing and administration. Surveys were administered to health professionals to learn about the handling of high-risk drugs. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics.

Results: Thirty-four high-risk drugs were established and classified according to the 11th revision of the national table of basic drugs and the list of the Institute for the Safe Use of Drugs Spain 2022. The rotation of high-risk drugs occurred frequently in the internal medicine, emergency and gynecology departments. In the evaluation of the management of high-risk medicines in the services, 60% of non-compliance was determined.

Conclusions: In the diagnosis of the management of high-risk drugs, non-compliance was found, which makes necessary the training of health personnel and the design of a protocol for their management in order to guarantee patient safety.