MORE than half the medication prescribed to patients in a Basildon mental health unit was wrong, research has revealed.

The Basildon Assessment Unit in Nethermayne was used as a guinea pig for nationwide research into howmany errors could potentially be made in the medication of patients when they are transferred from one care setting to another.

The Basildon unit was chosen as it has a system in place to check for errors before the medicines are given.

When someone is admitted, they are assessed by a pharmacist who checks what medication they were on prior to admission rather than relying on the often unreliable information given by patient.

The research showed that in a four -month period last year, 212 out of 377 patients gave wrong information relating to their medication – 56 per cent.

Patients would have been exposed to moderate harm in more than three-quarters of the cases identified.

The procedures already in place means all errors can be identified and corrected.

However, the practice isn’t nationwide.

Hilary Scott, chief pharmacist at the South Essex Partnership Trust, said: “We introduced the scheme in April 2010.

“This means there is a higher probability medicines prescribed on admission correspond with those the patient was taking before admission, minimising the risks associated with medication errors which commonly occur when a patient transfers from one care setting to another.”

Ian Maidment, senior lecturer in clinical pharmacy at Aston University, who supervised the research, described the Basildon unit as a “gold standard”, and added that further research was needed, including looking at the frequency of the errors and ways to reduce them.

He said: “We don't knowhow widespread such services are and recent reports have identified a lack of pharmacy services in mental health.”