Medication Safety Breakthrough Collaborative

Page contents: Book 1 Project chronicle | Book 2 Team showcase | Book 3 Improvement toolkit | Team posters | The NMSBC Project Team storyboard | Map of participating teams | Recommended websites

Starting in September 2003, the National Medication Safety Breakthrough Collaborative (NMSBC) was an initiative of the Australian Council for Safety and Quality in Health Care (ACS&QHC). Making medication systems safer was a strategic goal of the Council and the collaborative was established to develop and drive improvements in medication safety for the benefit of patients across Australia.

The NMSBC aimed to achieve a national improvement in medication safety by:

• Reducing patient harm associated with medication use by 50 per cent among clients of participating health care teams
• Developing a national network and system to sustain and transfer the improvements in medication safety to other Australian health services following the completion of the collaborative.

One hundred teams from all states and territories of Australia participated in the NMSBC and these teams were divided into two waves. Wave 1 teams focused on the medication processes and high-risk medication in the acute care setting. Wave 2 teams worked to improve the community interface issues regarding medication practices; that is, the partnerships with the community and sub-acute facilities and the acute care setting.

The NMSBC was completed in June 2005. A publication suite has been produced and is available on CDROM from the Quality Improvement Unit at the Victorian Department of Human Services by contacting the unit on (61 3) 9096 77022 or by email to: Paula.Marsh@dhs.vic.gov.au

Contents of the publication suite:

Book 1 Project chronicle

Book 1 provides information in relation to the NMSBC structure, lists State-based collaborative coordinators and team participation information. The book also contains details on the operational structure of the collaborative, local team project management, communication and event management, event evaluation, the top NMSBC data improvements, a summary of NMSBC qualitative achievements and recommendations for future nation breakthrough collaborative projects.

Book 2 Team showcase

Book 2 provides information on the hundred teams from all States and Territories of Australia that participated in the NMSBC and their projects to improve medication safety. Each team is listed individually with information under the headings: who we are and our services, project area, innovations, achievements and measurement.

top of page

Book 3 Improvement toolkit

The Improvement Toolkit booklet is designed to showcase the tools that were developed by participating teams and the NMSBC to achieve the collaborative aims. Book 3 includes tools that were considered by the teams to be integral to the success of their projects and supporting material produced by the NMSBC to help teams as they progressed through each stage of the collaborative.

Team posters

This CDROM contains team posters, chronicling team activities, including: site background, aims, successful strategies for sustainability, ongoing achievements, clinical practice change, data graphs, successful mainstreaming and team contact details in a poster format.

The NMSBC Project Team storyboard

The poster was created by the NMSBC Project Team to showcase the achievements of the National Medication Safety Breakthrough Collaborative. Graphs using aggregate data from top performing teams and a summary of lessons and conclusions have been included in the poster. The poster is saved as a pdf file and can be printed out on four A4 sheets or as a single A2 sheet.

NMSBC Project Team storyboard (408kb, pdf)

Map of participating teams

The attached map shows the distribution of participating Wave 1 and Wave 2 teams within the NMSBC across Australia and their respective State Based Collaborative Coordinator.

NMSBC map of participating teams (368Kb, pdf)

top of page

Recommended websites

Australian Resource Centre for Hospital Innovations
The Australian Resource Centre for Hospital Innovations website includes local information to support and increase the implementation of effective and quality innovations in clinical care in the Australian healthcare sector.

Better Health Channel
The Victorian Government - Australia, established the Better Health Channel in May 1999. Its role is to provide the community with access to online health related information, which is; Quality assured, Reliable, Up-to-date and Locally relevant. Consumer health information on the Better Health Channel is constantly expanded and regularly reviewed.

Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI)
The Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) website offers resources and services to help healthcare organisations to make improvements that enhance clinical outcomes and reduce costs.

Institute of Safe Medicine Practices
The Institute of Safe Medicine Practices is a website that issues medication alerts, newsletters, safety tips and a message board. (American).

Joint Commission on Accreditation of Health Care Organisations
Joint Commission on Accreditation of Health Care Organisations issues sentinel event alerts on high alert medications and procedures and include recommendations for addressing issues raised.

National Patient Safety Agency in the United Kingdom
The National Patient Safety Agency in the United Kingdom, a site that provides information to help improve safety and quality in healthcare, including safety alerts, for example potassium chloride.

National Prescribing Service
The National Prescribing Service is an independent Australian organisation. Their goal is to improve the health of Australians through quality prescribing of medicines.

Quality Health Care
This site is a joint venture between IHI and British Medical Journal (BMJ) publishing group and provides strategies that organisations have used to implement quality improvement activities. There is a specific section for medication systems.

Society of Hospital Pharmacists of Australia
The Society of Hospital Pharmacists of Australia website includes information on practice standards for Pharmacists and drug resources.

top of page