Medicines Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency
This World Patient Safety Day, 17 September 2024, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) launches a new three-year Strategy for Improving Safety Communications, which aims to transform the way we provide information about the risks and safety of medicines, medical devices and healthcare products in the UK to support effective implementation of new safety measures.
Effective communication is essential so that patients are informed of and understand the benefits and risks of medicines and devices they are using, to assist healthcare professionals in best protecting their patients, and to maintain confidence in medical products, the broader health system, and the MHRA.
Healthcare professionals need the latest safety information to advise and support their patients, and we have listened to their feedback in bringing improvements to our communications and systems.Our strategy is underpinned by the findings of our recent consultation with healthcare professionals and healthcare organisations.
The three-year strategy will deliver to patients and healthcare professionals more co-ordinated, targeted, and impactful safety communications, when they need it, using the best possible communication channels.
The new strategy aims to build on the MHRAs transformed approach to safety following the 2020 Independent Medicines and Medical Devices Safety Review. This called for strengthening the MHRAs processes for monitoring the safety of medicines and medical devices and better working with other bodies to support changes being embedded without delay in clinical practice.
Dr Alison Cave, Chief Safety Officer at the MHRA, said:
Our new Strategy for Improving Safety Communications will help us ensure patients are better informed about the benefits and risks of medical products.
We continue to listen to and shape our work in the light of feedback from patients, the public, healthcare professionals and external experts to ensure that we continue to support all those with whom we work to improve patient safety.
Major initiatives within the strategy
In the consultation, healthcare professionals raised their workload and time pressures, and the volume of safety warnings they receive. We will therefore launch a new MHRA Safety round up bulletin to bring together safety advice communicated by the MHRA each month across all the medical products we regulate. We will also continue to issue safety communications throughout the month in a targeted way, to anyone who wishes to receive them.
Healthcare professionals who took part in the consultation asked for more information about the MHRAs safety warnings and how they should be actioned. We will launch campaigns to raise awareness of the role of the MHRA and the importance of our safety communications.
Many organisations asked the MHRA to have better avenues for feedback on new safety warnings. We will build closer relationships with healthcare organisations and with healthcare professionals, to ensure our advice is actionable and informed by their needs.
The MHRA will also continue to build and increase its direct reach to patients, including through use of innovative mechanisms and communication methods that are tailored to their needs. To inform our approaches, there will be a further consultation with patients and patient representatives next year.
ENDS
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Notes to editors
- The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is responsible for regulating all medicines and medical devices in the UK by ensuring they work and are acceptably safe. All our work is underpinned by robust and fact-based judgements to ensure that the benefits justify any risks.
- The MHRA is an executive agency of the Department of Health and Social Care.
- For media enquiries, please contact the newscentre@mhra.gov.uk, or cal