title: Categorising paediatric prescribing errors by junior doctors through prescribing competency assessment: does assessment reflect actual practice?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  It is recognised that paediatric prescribing errors are prevalent, and that most are made by junior doctors; however, detecting errors in order to demonstrate actual error rates can be difficult. There is evidence to suggest that dosing errors are the most common type of prescribing error in practice, but there has been little research on whether prescribing assessments are an effective reflection of actual practice.This article aims to determine if prescribing error types in a paediatric prescribing competency assessment reflects error types seen in actual practice.
  
  
  METHODS
  This study was conducted in Royal Manchester Children's Hospital (RMCH) and the participants were junior doctors working at RMCH in 2010-2011. The intervention was a prescribing competency assessment package at RMCH.The main outcome measurement was the category and rate of prescribing errors. Results were taken from the junior doctors' prescribing competency assessment. The assessment papers were analysed for errors and the errors were then broken down into pre-defined categories.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Rates of prescribing errors in the competency assessment are higher than published results shown in practice (23.1 %). The most common type of prescribing error (incorrect calculation of dose) reflects results seen in actual practice.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The types of prescribing errors made in the competency assessment are reflective of errors made in actual practice. Prescribing teaching can be tailored according to the types of errors noted; and the prescribing competency package as a whole can be used to educate junior doctors on good prescribing practice and reduce prescribing errors.
authors.affiliation: Medical Leadership Programme, North Western Deanery, Manchester, UK. tessadavis06@gmail.com
authors.forename: Tessa
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Davis
authors.forename: Hong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Thoong
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kelsey
authors.forename: Guy
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Makin
mesh_terms: D002983:Clinical Competence; D006801:Humans; D008508:Medication Errors / Q000145:classification*; D010372:Pediatrics / Q000193:education*; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care