Medical error reports urged

The Health Ministry should investigate whether reporting of adverse medical events and medication errors should be mandatory and publicised, a parliamentary select committee says.

The recommendation is included in the health select committee's financial review of the ministry, which says Britain and the United States already do and Australia has decided to. But the Health Ministry here is reluctant, committee chairwoman Sue Kedgley says.

The aim wasn't to "name and shame" doctors but to shine a spotlight on the problem, as overseas experience showed mandatory reporting followed by publication tended to reduce problems such as deaths as a result of medical errors, bad reactions to medications or infections acquired in hospitals.

A 1997 ministry report revealed about 1500 people died from "adverse in-hospital health care events", she said.

Figures recently released revealed nearly 17,000 people suffered an adverse reaction to medicines last year and the Centre for Adverse Reactions Reporting tallied about 4000 additional adverse reactions, she said.

The ministry was working on the need to address prescribing errors but was not convinced that public reporting would benefit the management of adverse events, as the interpretation of data could pose serious problems, the report said.