InnoScot Health believes that a freshly launched consultation is a ‘vital opportunity’ for healthcare professionals to influence the UK medicines and medical devices regulator’s future safety communications and safety reporting systems

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has pledged to review its approach to engaging with healthcare professionals with the ultimate aim of improving the safety of medicines and medical devices.

The MHRA – which regulates medicines, medical devices, and blood components for transfusion in the UK – wants to ensure that healthcare professionals are receiving “actionable information and guidance on safe use of medicines and medical devices that they can take into their working practice, providing timely advice to patients.”

The agency says its 14-week public consultation will enable healthcare professionals across the UK to have their say on how they wish to receive vital safety information, and how they would like to be engaged. The review also offers an opportunity to provide feedback on the Yellow Card safety reporting system which collects and monitors information on suspected safety concerns involving healthcare products.

Head of Regulatory Affairs at InnoScot Health, Elaine Gemmell said: “The effectiveness of MHRA’s approach to engaging with healthcare professionals is crucial in helping to get medicines and medical devices into the right hands at the right time, ensuring that patients receive the correct advice on their usage, and that safety concerns are reported and acted upon in a timely fashion.

“InnoScot Health shares the MHRA’s aim of patients always receiving the best possible care, and this consultation is a vital opportunity to help influence the way its safety communications and safety reporting systems are delivered in future, ultimately supporting improved healthcare decision-making.

“Therefore, we’d urge as diverse a range of views as possible to be heard during this important review, in turn providing a clear direction of travel for the regulator.”

The MHRA says that it needs to improve the way it engages with healthcare professionals, and therefore wants to hear their views in order “to work together on our common goal of greater patient safety.