Improving drug chart documentation in elective surgical patient admissions

National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines state that all healthcare organisations should put policies in place for medication reconciliation on admission. At Croydon University Hospital a medication history had previously been taken in Foundation Year 1 (FY1) preoperative clinics. However, when these clinics were deemed unnecessary, this opportunity for drug chart documentation was lost, along with an awareness of this responsibility among the FY1s. As a result patients were being admitted to wards without adequate drug chart documentation which resulted in a serious untoward incident occurring. This project aimed to increase awareness among FY1s of this responsibility and as a result increase drug chart documentation in postoperative elective surgical patients. The drug charts of 40 postoperative elective surgical patients admitted to all surgical wards were reviewed over a 2 week period. 12.5% (4/32) of patients taking regular medication had these correctly prescribed, with 'high risk medication omissions' found in 7.5% (3/40). Documentation of an allergy status was absent in 17.5% (7/40) of patients, including 5% (2/40) of whom had a known drug allergy. To create awareness of this responsibility, first, a presentation was given to the FY1s, second, posters to prompt action were placed on the elective surgical wards, and finally, the Director of Medical Education emailed the FY1s reiterating these facts. We then reviewed the drug charts of 45 elective postoperative patients over a 2 week period following these interventions. The results showed: correct prescription of regular medications improved to 48% (16/33); 'high risk medication omissions' reduced to 4% (2/45); documentation of allergy status on the drug charts increased to 87% (39/45); failure to document a known drug allergy on the drug chart fell to 2% (1/45); and patients with a 'high risk medication omission' or an undocumented known drug allergy decreased from 12.5% (5/40) to 7 % (3/45). This study has highlighted an area in which medication reconciliation and drug chart documentation were inadequate, and posed a risk to patient safety. Interventions designed to educate the FY1s and inform them of their responsibility improved standards in regular medication prescription and allergy documentation. However, leaving the onus with the FY1s was not enough to achieve adequate drug chart documentation. Further project cycles may therefore require the implementation of a step within the patient admission protocol in the preoperative ward that requires the nursing staff to contact the team's doctor when the patient arrives in hospital to ensure satisfactory drug chart documentation. In addition, collaboration with the pharmacists could also allow a 'best possible medication history' to be taken on the day of admission and thus reduce risk to patient safety.