Updates

#MedicineSafety day

November 30, 2017

30th November 2017, #MedicineSafety day marked the launch of many new information resources and some exciting new features on the Medicines for Children website. It also saw the release of our new series of parent and carer information films. These films feature interviews with some of the many healthcare professionals with whom parents, carers, children and young people may come into contact with whilst navigating child health services.

#MedicineSafety day served to celebrate another busy year for the Medicines for Children team, spent developing resources to help improve access to accurate medicines information for parents / carers. In 2017, we have seen our annual user numbers increase by 30%, from 1.7 million in 2016, to 2.2 million in 2017. These numbers show that there is still a great need for an online source of medicines information which parents and carers can rely upon. The aim of the annual #MedicineSafety day is to further promote the paediatric medicines information hosted on Medicines for Children so that any parent or carer, wherever they are, can have access to information on their child’s medicines that they need and can trust.

There are many reasons as to why it is important for parents and carers to have access to reliable and up to date information on their child’s medicines –

  •  If fully informed, parents / carers they can look out for adverse reactions or side effects from their child’s medicines, leading to a reduced risk of harm to their child
  • Unless in hospital, parents / carers will be administering the child’s medicine therefore they need to know how to do this correctly
  • In the home, parents are responsible for the care of their child therefore they need access to a source of medicines information that they can trust, 24 hours a day 7 days a week, specifically tailored for children and young people
  • Increased information can empower parents to raise concerns about their child – this is important as they are often the experts in their child’s care
  • Parents can only confidently advocate for what is best for their child when they have the full information about a new medicine

Did you know:

  • Many prescribed medications are not licensed for use in children therefore it is hard to get accurate information on how they should be given to children
  • Medicines for Children provides information on administering over 200 prescribed medicines specifically to children and young people
  • Medicines for Children currently hosts a library of instructional films for parents on how to administer various medications. These films feature WellChild parents and WellChild Nurses and were filmed at the Better at Home Suite, at Edge Hill University.

For full #MedicineSafety day updates follow us on twitter @MedsForChildren

The launch of new resources and medicines information

The new resources that were published  on the Medicines for Children website on #MedicineSafety day include the following:

  • Two new parent / carer information leaflets
  1. Helping your child to swallow tablets
  2. Travelling with medicines
  • The first two films in our new series of interviews with healthcare professionals:

 

    1. “The role of the pharmacist” with Catrin Barker, Chief Pharmacist at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital
    2. “The role of a Community Paediatrician” with Dr Ruairi Gallagher, Consultant in Developmental Paediatrics at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital