ARCHIVES
VOL. 11, ISSUE 3 (2026)
Medication safety reporting in Indian hospitals: Systems, barriers, pharmacist involvement, and opportunities for improvement
Authors
Shubham Kumar Vohra
Abstract
Medication-safety reports allow hospitals to
identify preventable harm and learn from failures in the medication-use
process. In India, however, suspected adverse drug reactions (ADRs), medication
errors, near misses, and other safety incidents are often handled through
separate reporting routes. This structured narrative review examined openly
accessible Indian literature on reporting arrangements, barriers, pharmacist
participation, and practical options for improvement. PubMed was searched to 21
June 2026 using one broad medication-safety strategy and a second strategy
focused on reporting barriers and pharmacists. The two searches returned 281
records. After 42 duplicates were removed, 239 unique records were screened and
43 full-text publications were included. Most of the evidence came from
single-centre observational studies and questionnaire surveys. Frequently
reported obstacles were uncertainty about what and where to report, difficulty
judging causality, heavy workload, limited time, complicated forms, fear of
blame or legal consequences, lack of anonymity, and poor feedback. Educational
programmes usually improved knowledge and attitudes in the short term, although
increases in actual reporting were less consistent. Better practice was
reported when education was supported by simple confidential reporting routes,
active surveillance, pharmacist coordination, and feedback to staff.
Pharmacists contributed to detection, medication review, causality and
preventability assessment, documentation, trend review, and service redesign. Indian
hospitals need a coordinated learning system that connects ADRs, medication
errors, near misses, and unsafe conditions while protecting reporters, defining
a pharmacist coordination role, returning timely feedback, and reducing
duplicate documentation through interoperable digital systems.
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Pages:17-23
How to cite this article:
Shubham Kumar Vohra "Medication safety reporting in Indian hospitals: Systems, barriers, pharmacist involvement, and opportunities for improvement". International Journal of Research in Pharmacy and
Pharmaceutical Sciences, Vol 11, Issue 3, 2026, Pages 17-23
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