New educational initiative aims to help health professionals improve adverse event reporting

A new educational initiative by NPS MedicineWise and the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) aims to improve both the quality and quantity of adverse event reporting relating to medicines, vaccines and medical devices to the TGA.

Two new 30-minute online learning modules have been developed to build on health professionals’ existing expertise and skills and encourage them to assist the TGA in its safety monitoring activities.

Given their expertise and direct contact with patients, health professionals are among those best placed to provide high-quality adverse event reports. These reports are critical to ensuring the TGA can formally respond to potential threats to patient safety.

Developed by NPS MedicineWise in partnership with the TGA, the modules are designed to increase health professionals’ knowledge around reporting adverse events associated with therapeutic products. Key features include a detailed explanation of the importance of reporting adverse events in an increasingly active health system, how to build reporting into practice and what happens to reports once they are submitted to the TGA.

NPS MedicineWise CEO Dr Lynn Weekes says that there is a need to build a deeper understanding among health professionals of why patients and the TGA rely on health professionals to report adverse events.

“Knowledge is power, and this applies in particular to the safety monitoring of therapeutic products in Australia as it improves the quality of available information to inform clinical decision making,” says Dr Weekes.

“These new online learning modules provide health professionals — including nurses, pharmacists, GPs, hospital doctors and biomedical engineers — with a detailed explanation of the importance of reporting adverse events in an increasingly active health system, how to build reporting into practice, different ways in which to report and what happens to reports once they are submitted to the TGA.

“Doctors, pharmacists, nurses and other health professionals already contend with high levels of responsibility and busy schedules, but by reinforcing and building on health professionals’ existing knowledge and skills in this area, we are hoping to see an increase in both the quality and quantity of adverse event reports to the TGA for medicines, vaccines and devices.”

Dr Tony Hobbs, Principal Medical Adviser at the TGA says that the learning modules aim to remove some of the barriers that prevent health professionals from reporting adverse events and to improve their knowledge and understanding of post-market safety monitoring of medicines, vaccines and medical devices.

“We’re pleased to be working with NPS MedicineWise to help health professionals be clear about the types of adverse events reports sought by the TGA, how to report an adverse event to the TGA, how such reports help us in safeguarding the community, and how to access reliable information about the safety of therapeutic goods,” said Dr Hobbs.

Health professionals who successfully complete the modules are eligible for Continuing Professional Development points from the relevant accrediting health professional bodies.