A policy briefing presented during Sense about Science’s Evidence Week highlighted research showing that structured, video‑enhanced feedback in medical education can significantly reduce prescribing errors among newly qualified doctors. The intervention, developed through research published in Medical Teacher, was found to halve prescribing mistakes and close the performance gap between novice and experienced prescribers.
In their first two years after graduation, resident doctors are twice as likely as other healthcare professionals to make prescribing errors. Evidence shared by Taylor & Francis demonstrated that incorporating personalized feedback into training programs can improve prescribing safety and patient outcomes. The approach was described as cost‑effective and scalable, offering a practical way to strengthen clinical practice.
Professor Rakesh Patel, Director of Undergraduate Medicine at St Mary’s University, emphasized that education without structured feedback is insufficient. He noted that new doctors require training that develops safe prescribing behaviors in real clinical settings, supported by performance data. He added that scaling this intervention across Foundation Training would be a cost‑effective step toward reducing avoidable harm in the National Health Service.
Policy implications discussed at Evidence Week included the need for accreditation of prescribing competence, shifting emphasis from examinations alone to demonstrated safe prescribing performance. Parliamentarians expressed interest in the findings, which underscored the importance of evidence‑based educational design in medical training.
Evidence Week, now in its ninth year, brings together researchers, parliamentarians, and the public to discuss pressing issues ranging from clean energy to artificial intelligence. Tracey Brown, Chief Executive of Sense about Science, explained that the event provides Parliament with opportunities to engage directly with research groups and ensure policy decisions are grounded in evidence.
Click here to read the original press release.
