Clinicians’ perceptions of medication errors with opioids in cancer and palliative care services: a priority setting report

This paper reports the findings of a priority setting process, undertaken with cancer and palliative care clinicians, to better understand the characteristics of medication errors with opioids within their services. Participants representing six public hospitals in one Australian state took part in a series of priority setting workshops and, drawing on actual incidents occurring in their services, sought to identify where in the opioid medication process errors were most frequently occurring. Opioid error types and perceived contributing factors were explored, and strategies to reduce/prevent opioid errors were proposed. The priority setting process provided valuable insights into the types of opioid errors that occur in cancer and palliative care services and the complexity of addressing opioid errors from the clinician’s perspective. The findings from this priority setting process will inform future targeted quality improvement initiatives to support safe opioid medication practices in cancer and palliative care services.