• ABOUT SMM

• Objectives
  
• Programme Structure
• Steering Group Membership
• Project Team Details

About Us

The Safe Medication Management Programme aims to greatly reduce the number of New Zealanders harmed each year by medication errors in our hospitals, general practices, aged care facilities and across the entire health and disability sector.

These medication errors, known as "Adverse Drug Events" affect an unacceptable number of New Zealanders each year with many resulting in permanent disabilities or deaths.

The SMM Programme was established by the Ministerial appointed Quality Improvement Committee as an initiative to improve patient safety by reducing harm to patients from adverse drug events.

People are most at risk from Adverse Drug Events when incorrect information about them is passed between health providers.

The Safe Medication Management Programme is working with clinicians (including doctors, nurses, pharmacists and physiotherapists) to develop systems, which will help prevent Adverse Drug Events from happening.

For the SMM Programme to be successful we need the support of the entire health and disability sector.

While the programme will initially focus on hospitals and their interface with primary care, it will also develop systems to allow the programme to extend across the entire health and disability sector.

Objectives

The programme's objectives are to:

• Reduce the number of adverse drug events in New Zealand
• Reduce the number of patients who are permanently disabled or die as a result of adverse drug events
• Reduce the costs associated with remedial treatment of patient injury caused by adverse drug events

Programme Structure

A Safe Medication Management Steering Group has been established to oversee the programme. This group includes clinicians, consumers and operational groups. The Steering Group will provide governance to the programme and aims to ensure input from across the sector and a high level of collaboration with stakeholders.

The SMM Programme is being co-ordinated by a specialist project team and supported by a number of multi-disciplinary working groups, which draw their membership from across the 21 DHBs as well as consumer and primary care representatives.