Iphone application helps cut risk to children of drug prescribing errors

Brad Wilson, of Bradford Royal Infirmary, joined forces with two other emergency medicine doctors from Doncaster and Leeds, together with a team of IT specialists, to develop an iphone application aimed at

reducing mistakes in prescribing medicines in A&E units.

Just five months after its launch, the technology has been downloaded in 32 countries by 10,000 users.

Dr Wilson said the application had "enormous benefits" for doctors working under extreme pressure. "We know that paediatric prescribing errors are a huge problem in A&Es across the country – official figures estimate it to be nearly 20 per cent – but our application helps reduce these mistakes as the phone application electronically works out the right calculations for fluid and drugs after inputting information such as the child's age or weight," he said.

"It then gives you a number of different medical scenarios before working out the correct amount of fluids and drugs needed for each individual child.

"This is much better than the old system which meant the doctors having to work out the calculations manually or by reading them off old wall-charts." Dr Wilson now has plans for a free application for doctors in the third world and the device has been shortlisted for a prestigious national award.

n Hundreds of patients living in some of England's most isolated communities could get the chance to book GP appointments via a video link project. The scheme, initially launched in Swaledale two years ago, has now seen a 2,500 video system including a touch screen and a camera installed at a community centre in Hawes where a proposal to allow GPs to conduct online assessments is being considered.