The next logical step was to develop a system for the reporting of errors and near misses occurring within MI itself, whilst maintaining anonymity and a no blame culture. Similar national recording systems are already in place for dispensing and aseptic manufacture. This will hopefully enable UKMI and MI managers to identify common themes and look at ways to avoid future incidents.

The Clinical Governance Working Group has developed the Incident Reporting in Medicines Information Scheme (IRMIS). MI Managers can report errors and near misses identified within their MI service on a secure database. The scheme is intended to complement, but not replace, existing recording systems. IRMIS passwords, unique to each service, have been issued by the Medusa webmasters.

MI Managers can view and if necessary, amend the detail of their entries at any time. It is also possible to produce anonymised reports of the national records on the database. Two members of the Clinical Governance Working Group will regularly review the records and highlight particular issues and lessons learnt as appropriate.

IRMIS database

Guidance Notes These notes describe how to: access IRMIS, enter, amend, delete or print an incident and produce reports.