Background Pharmaceutical interventions (PIs) ensure proper drug prescription and the effectiveness and safety of any treatment.

Purpose To assess and describe PIs made on medical prescriptions and the acceptance rate by clinicians.

Material and methods A retrospective observational study of PIs was conducted between September 2015 and September 2016 in hospitalised patients of a 300 bed hospital. Intensive care unit and paediatric, resuscitation and emergency services were not included in the study. Number of PIs, drug treatment group and clinical service involved, and type of PI were collected, as well as the acceptance rate by clinicians. Data were obtained from the pharmaceutical managing programme, Farmatools.

Results 1134 PIs were reported, the main clinical services were: internal medicine (22.8%), traumatology (15.5%), psychiatry (9.6%), surgery (8.6%) and neurology (7.6%). The main drug treatment groups involved were: B04 hypolipemiants (14.5%), M01 anti-inflammatory/antirheumatic (6.7%), A02 antacids/anti-ulcers (6.1%) y N05 psycholeptics (6.0%) and y J01 systemic antibiotics (5.2%). IP types: 57.1% appropriate prescribing (subtypes: 25.9% associated text transcription and 24.1% improper drug selection), 25.3% medication error (subtypes: 26.8% stopping the drug, 18.5% change of proposed drug and 17.1% drug substitution), 11.6% change to a drug included in the hospital pharmacotherapeutic guide and 3.8% medication reconciliation. The acceptance ratio by clinicians was 98%. Not all IPs were communicated to prescribers as some were considered to be of direct acceptance.

Conclusion PIs contribute to improved safety and effectiveness of prescriptions, minimising the risk to the patient and increasing the quality of care. The percentage of rejected interventions was very low. The pharmacist plays an essential role in ensuring the quality of pharmacotherapy.

No conflict of interest