How can pharmacy professionals determine when to record a near miss as part of AIMS?

If a potential error is caught outside of the established processes and procedures at the pharmacy but before the prescription reaches the patient, it should be recorded as a near miss. Established processes and procedures could include the technical and therapeutic signoffs and/or any other regular process in place to catch errors such as input or DIN errors.

Regardless of when a near miss is caught, if it is noted that similar errors are re-occurring on a frequent basis, this may indicate that the processes and procedures implemented into the workflow are not effective and should be reviewed.

The extent to which near misses are recorded will be a professional judgment decision of the Designated Manager in consideration of the nature of the near miss, its implication for patient safety, and the extent to which it is recurring.