TY - JOUR T1 - Decreasing paediatric prescribing errors in a district general hospital JF - Quality and Safety in Health Care JO - Qual Saf Health Care SP - 146 LP - 149 DO - 10.1136/qshc.2006.021212 VL - 17 IS - 2 AU - A L Davey AU - A Britland AU - R J Naylor Y1 - 2008/04/01 UR - http://qualitysafety.bmj.com/content/17/2/146.abstract N2 - Background: In paediatric inpatients, medication errors occur as frequently as 1 in 4.2 drug orders, with up to 80% of these being prescribing errors.Context: The children’s unit of a district general hospital in West Yorkshire, UK.Key measures for improvement: Prescribing errors and preventable adverse drug eventsStrategies for change: (1) The introduction of a junior doctor prescribing tutorial. (2) The introduction of a bedside prescribing guideline.Effects of change: The introduction of the junior doctor prescribing tutorial decreased the prescribing errors by 46%. The introduction of a bedside prescribing guideline did not decrease prescribing errors but may have been helpful to those doctors unable to attend a prescribing tutorial.Lessons learnt: By investing time and providing appropriate written resources, we have been able to reduce our paediatric prescribing errors on the children’s ward by almost half. ER -