Medicines safety week 2026: what you can do to help us provide safe care
This Med Safety Week, we’re reminding patients and their families about some of the simple things they can do to help us provide safe medicines care, from bringing their usual medication into hospital to telling staff if they take medicines that need to be given at specific times.
Bring your medicines with you
- If you’re being admitted to one of our hospitals, please bring all your medication (including inhalers) with you.
- Knowing what medicines you are taking is an important part of your care and having them with you can help reduce the risk of missed doses during your stay.
- If you forget to bring your medicines, we may ask a relative or carer to bring them in for you within 24 hours.
Are you taking time-critical medicines?
Some medicines need to be taken at particular times. Delays or missed doses can have a significant impact on your health.
Please tell hospital staff if you have Parkinson’s disease or another movement disorder, or if you take:
- insulin
- steroids, including for Addison’s disease
- immunosuppressant medicines, including transplant medication
- epilepsy medication
Telling us as soon as possible helps our teams aim to give your medicines at the right time.
One patient with Parkinson’s disease explained why this matters: “Not having my Parkinson’s Disease medication on time can rapidly move me to ‘on’ and ‘off’ periods. Receiving medication on time is so important.”
Talk to us about your medicines
If you have questions or concerns about your medicines while you are in hospital, please talk to us.
- Our pharmacy and ward teams are here to help you understand what you are taking and why.
- Knowing your medicines and asking questions can help you be more involved in your care.
Patients have told us about the difference good communication about medicines can make: “When I was admitted through A&E, I told staff about my medicines, both at A&E and on the ward.”
Another patient said: “The process for medicines at discharge went smoothly.”
Support with medicines after you leave hospital
Support with your medicines doesn’t necessarily end when you leave hospital.
Ask your ward team about the Discharge Medicines Service (DMS) and how your community pharmacist can support you following discharge.
If you are offered the service, you can agree to a referral to your community pharmacy so that you can continue to receive support with your medicines after you go home.
Report problems with medicines and medical devices
If you experience a problem with a medicine or medical device, you can report it through the MHRA Yellow Card scheme.
- Reports from patients, families and healthcare professionals help identify potential safety issues and keep medicines and medical devices safer for everyone.
- You can report a problem for yourself or on behalf of somebody else and it takes less than 10 minutes.
Report online at www.mhra.gov.uk/yellowcard.
As one patient involved in this year’s campaign said: “It is encouraging to see that real patient experiences are part of the Medication Safety Week campaign.”
This Med Safety Week, remember: bring your medicines with you, tell us about any time-critical medication you take, and talk to us if you have questions or concerns.