Quality improvement project to reduce paediatric prescribing errors in a teaching hospital.

A quality improvement project to reduce paediatric prescribing errors was carried out in a London teaching hospital between June 2013 and March 2014. It involved paediatric medical and surgical wards and a paediatric intensive care unit. A multi professional team of 'prescribing champions' was formed. Baseline audit identified high prescribing error rate. Prescribing standards were taught through workshops and 'prescribing test'. Feedback of weekly sampling and 'star chart game' led to an initial improvement of prescribing errors which was not sustained. Qualitative feedback showed increased knowledge and empowerment of multi-professional stakeholders. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/.