Incident at Royal Cornhill Hospital
A child was permitted to collect medication on behalf of a patient at Royal Cornhill Hospital, a psychiatric facility in Aberdeen, BBC Scotland News has reported.
The individual involved was a 15-year-old relative of the patient and was not asked to provide identification when collecting the medication.
The medication obtained from the ward reportedly included lithium and diazepam.
NHS Grampian initiated an "urgent" review following the incident and stated its intention to learn from the situation.
Details of the Complaint and Review
The complaint was lodged with NHS Grampian last week after the teenager was allowed to retrieve medication on behalf of their relative admitted to the psychiatric hospital.
Upon review, it was found that staff had been informed the individual was over the age of 16; however, no verification was conducted at the time of medication collection.
Response from Health Officials
Fiona Mitchelhill, chief officer of Aberdeen City Health and Social Care Partnership (ACHSCP), commented on the matter, emphasizing the opportunity to improve protocols regarding medication collection by third parties.
"Safe use of medication by patients and those who support them is paramount," she said.
"We have taken immediate steps across the hospital's wards to clarify that medication should not normally be provided to third parties, including young people, unless there is a clearly documented and appropriate arrangement in place."
"We will learn from this case to further strengthen our systems and safeguard patient care and have taken immediate action to do so.
We will be responding directly to the individuals who raised this concern to confirm the actions we have taken and our commitment to learning and improving."
