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6ER-019 Implementing and sustaining a national standardised safe prescribing simulation programme for international medical graduates in [country]: a review of experiences to date

ejhpharm · 2026-03-18 · canonical JSON source

6 visible annotations · policy: published · automated confidence ≥ 75.00%

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Background and Importance Medication safety is a national priority. International medical graduates (IMGs) represent a substantial share of the country’s workforce. Many begin practice unfamiliar with local formularies, documentation, and workflows. To reduce early prescribing errors and accelerate safe integration, the National Simulation Office (NSO), in partnership with pharmacists and other stakeholders, is developing a standardised simulation-based induction programme.Aim and Objectives To describe the work, time, and resources required to design and implement a national safe prescribing simulation; to assess feasibility and acceptability across diverse hospital contexts; and to identify barriers and enablers to sustainable scale-up.Material and Methods The 2-year project uses interactive simulated scenarios that mirror a patients’ journey, targeting full roll-out by July 2026. Four domains are addressed: (1) safe prescribing; (2) core procedural skills; (3) immersive management of sepsis, the deteriorating patient, haemorrhage, and delirium; (4) communication using simulated patients. Governance is provided by the Simulation Education Induction Working Group, comprising 35 interprofessional members.A mixed-methods, plan–do–study–act approach is applied.Six high-risk prescribing areas are targeted: antimicrobials, anticoagulants, insulin, analgesia, high-alert medications, and time-critical medicines. Learners complete local prescription documentation, apply national and local guidelines, and receive immediate feedback. Content is co-designed by pharmacists, doctors, nurses, educationalists, and simulationists. Data include feasibility metrics, qualitative learner/faculty feedback, and descriptive outputs.Results The programme was piloted across 16 hospitals in January and July/August 2025. Sessions typically required three pharmacists to deliver plus additional preparation time. Learners reported high relevance, realism, and immediate applicability. Pharmacist facilitators valued the programme but highlighted significant time burden and challenges reconciling national standardisation with local prescribing variations (paper vs electronic systems, differing processes). Barriers included lack of protected IMG and pharmacist time, inconsistent management buy-in, and limited local leadership in education and simulation. Enablers included NSO-provided equipment, consumables funding, staff buy-out, and co-design through SEIKO.Conclusion and Relevance This programme is feasible and valued but resource-intensive and constrained by system heterogeneity and service pressures. Sustainability will require protected time for IMGs and pharmacists, executive sponsorship, alignment of prescribing templates, and stronger leadership for education and simulation. Iterative development in 2025–26 will expand participation, refine resources, and embed consistent standards to support safer prescribing from day 1.Conflict of Interest No conflict of interest