Safety and quality update: April 2021
WebAIRS update, S8 prescribing issue in New South Wales
Your monthly digest of developments in safety and quality.
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WebAIRS update
An article titled ‘Iatrogenic uvular injury related to airway instrumentation: A report of 13 cases from the webAIRS database and a review of uvular necrosis following inadvertent uvular injury’ was published in Anaesthesia and Intensive Care (AIC) on 8 April 2021. Matthew R Bright, Sandra Concha Blamey, Linda A Beckmann, Martin D Culwick. For more information, visit WebAIRS Publications (anztadc.net)
A reminder to look out for the webAIRS sessions at the upcoming ANZCA ASM 2021. For more information, visit WebAIRS Events (anztadc.net)
S8 prescribing issue in New South Wales
Under the New South Wales Poisons and Therapeutic Goods Regulation 2008 the prescription for a drug of addiction must include the name and designation of the person by whom it is issued and the address and telephone number of the premises at which it is issued (clause 80 (1) (g) (h)).
The college has recently been made aware of instances where pharmacists have declined to dispense S8 prescriptions where the prescription lists the prescriber’s mobile phone number rather than a telephone number associated with a facility (i.e. landline number).
New South Wales Health have advised that being able to contact a prescriber on a landline at a facility allows a pharmacist to better establish the bona-fides of the prescriber and adds an additional layer of security against fraudulent prescriptions for drugs of addiction.
Prescribers in New South Wales are asked to consider this issue when ordering prescription pads from Services Australia.