Doctors are making mistakes in an astonishing one in six prescriptions, according to a General Medical Council study of 1,200 patients. The GMC added that many of the mistakes were thankfully either minor or would have been picked up by the pharmacists before the patients received the drugs. Even so, the figures are too high. The mistakes included incomplete information and mistakes over doses and timings. 4% of the mistakes were severe, including patients being prescribed drugs to which they were allergic. Andrew Lansley, the Health Secretary, said the Government was working with GPs to improve the position. He sought to reassure patients that even though there were mistakes, there were systems in place to protect patients and many pharmacists can spot the errors.
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