Medicine reconciliation is a key step to ensuring that patients are prescribed the correct medicines, and the correct dose, appropriate to their current clinical presentation and that avoidable harm from medicines is reduced. Among older patients (65+ years) 14% are discharged with medicine discrepancies and have a higher risk of being readmitted to hospital within 30 days. Medicine reconciliation on discharge encompasses a standardised process to record all changes made to medicines during the patient’s stay in hospital. A study in Aberdeen Royal Infirmary found on average 2 medication errors in each electronic Immediate Discharge Letter (eIDL).
