The bigger picture

This scenario illustrates the importance of staying up to date with changes to medicines and practice, as the smallest thing can have a significant impact on patient care and safety. Tanya is right to have queried the prescription; if there is ever any doubt at all, it is always better to check. However, as this scenario also demonstrates, keeping up to date is not always easy, and in some cases the information available will be inconsistent, despite all sources used being reliable. If this happens, checking with Medicines Information – either the department at the relevant pharmaceutical company or your local service – is the best option.