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Research into the impact that better information design could have on medication packaging led to design guidance for industry on improving the primary and secondary packaging to ensure patient safety.
Swayne T (2006) Information design for patient safety: a guide to the graphic design of medication packaging, London, National Patient Safety Agency and Helen Hamlyn Trust
Swayne T (2007) Design for Patient Safety: a guide to the graphic design of medication packaging, 2nd edition of Information design for patient safety, London, National Patient Safety Agency and Helen Hamlyn Trust
This communication project explores the impact that better information design guidelines could have on improving the prescription blister pack and ensuring patient safety. General Practitioners in England issue more than 660 million prescriptions every year; an estimated 200 million prescriptions are issued in hospitals and the average community pharmacy dispenses up to 10,000 prescriptions every month. Not surprisingly, errors due to bad information design on the pack can occur when the patient is prescribed the drug and when they take a dose.
The project started with an analysis of individual patient errors and the compliance systems around them. Key issues such as ease of identification, dosage compliance and information degradation were highlighted. The ‘journey of the pack’ was then followed through visits to manufacturers, hospitals, pharmacies and patients. This identified further problems to look at including colour, type size/style and hierarchies of information. The blister pack was focused on as this is the most widely-used type of packaging for prescription-only medicines.
The resulting publication of design guidance uses exemplar packaging designs to disseminate and promote best practice. It sets out the safety challenges that need to be addressed, and outlines a new design-led approach to reducing the incidence of medication errors attributed to confusing, complex and unwieldy information design on packaging.
Guidance is provided for all those involved in designing, developing and delivering medication packaging. It is also relevant to people in medication procurement and regulation.
Together, the book and the exemplars provide a foundation for error to be designed out of medication delivery before accidents occur, and are proving to meet an industry need for clear guidance on information design issues.
