The most common medication errors are:

• Prescribing errors where abbreviations are added to the intended dose (e.g. ‘U’ or ‘IU’ for units) and the dose is misread
• Dispensing errors where the incorrect insulin or insulin device is given to patients or where the dose is misread as a result of inappropriate use of abbreviations (see previous slide).
• Administration errors – for example the inappropriate use of non-insulin syringes (e.g. intravenous syringes), which are marked in ml and not in insulin units, or where the incorrect dose of insulin is given as a result of inappropriate prescribing. ‘The adult patient’s passport to safer use of insulin’ from the National Patient Safety Agency was originally introduced to address these errors. Insulin passports enable safety checks to ensure the correct insulin product is prescribed and dispensed, and also function as alert cards that can be easily carried by patients or their carers. They ensure that key information about a patient’s insulin therapy is accessible to all healthcare providers.