Media release: Scots urged to show the Yellow Card to side effects from medication
A new report from Healthcare Improvement Scotland has found just 10% of Scots who suffered side effects from taking medication are reporting them to the Yellow Card Scheme.
The statistic was revealed in Healthcare Improvement Scotland’s latest Citizen’s Panel report, which gathered views from more than 560 people across Scotland on medicine safety, long-term conditions, and preconception health and care.
The report recommends raising awareness of the Yellow Card scheme to help keep everyone safe. The scheme is run by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), to improve under-reporting of medicines’ side effects. The scheme helps the MHRA identify new safety issues as early as possible.
Panel members were asked whether they had experienced a side effect or unintended effect from a medicine, with 57% per cent saying they had.
Those who had experienced side effects were asked if they had spoken to anyone about the side effect they experienced. Of these, 84% had spoken to a doctor, nurse or pharmacist about the side effects, 29% had spoken to family and friends and 10% had reported this through the Yellow Card scheme.
Laura Fulton, Chief Pharmacist with Healthcare Improvement Scotland, said:
“The Yellow Card Scheme collects and monitors information on suspected safety concerns involving healthcare products, of which medicines are a significant contributor.
“This is extremely important as it flags side effects that previously have not been reported, for example. It is vital to improve our understanding of medicines and safeguard patients. I would encourage patients, members of the public and healthcare professionals to proactively utilise the Yellow Card Scheme and report any concern as soon as they can. This will undoubtedly help others both now and in the future.”
Chief Pharmacist with Healthcare Improvement Scotland
Professor Simon Maxwell, Medical Director, Yellow Card Centre Scotland, said:
““I am pleased that Healthcare Improvement Scotland’s report recognised the important role that the Yellow Card Scheme has played, and will continue to play, in safeguarding public health in Scotland.
“Since its inception in the 1960s in the wake of the thalidomide disaster, the Scheme has been helping to shine a light on important but less common side effects to medicines that have not been fully clarified at the time of regulatory approval. That was particularly evident following the rapid approval of the COVID-19 vaccines in 2021.
“Although the ability to report (side effects to the Scheme) was originally restricted to medical professionals, any member of the public can now report, and those reports are making a growing contribution to the Scheme. I welcome the report’s focus on increasing public awareness of the Scheme as a mechanism whereby all citizens can all make a contribution to medicines safety.”
Medical Director, Yellow Card Centre Scotland
The report recommends the Scottish Government promotes and supports public awareness of the Yellow Card Scheme, to improve under-reporting of medicines’ side effects.
It also suggests NHS Scotland learns from the data collected and analysed through the Yellow Card Scheme, to identify and take specific actions to improve medicines safety across Scotland.
Clare Morrison, Healthcare Improvement Scotland’s Director of Engagement and Change, said:
“The Yellow Card Scheme plays an important part in public safety, and Citizen’s Panel 15 has highlighted the need for more people to learn about the scheme and what it does.
“We hope that our highlighting this through Citizen’s Panel 15 will help keep everyone safe when taking medication.”
Healthcare Improvement Scotland’s Director of Engagement and Change
The full report is now available to read online.
Find out more about the Yellow Card Scheme.
Ends
Notes to editor
Our organisation’s Community Engagement and Transformational Change’s work involves undertaking engagement with people and communities from across all 32 local authority areas to ensure that services meet their needs, identify sustainable service improvements and to develop trust.
Their findings are later compiled into reports, which are published on the Healthcare Improvement Scotland Community Engagement website at www.hisengage.scot.
Healthcare Improvement Scotland’s statutory role is to help improve the quality of health and care, provide information to the public about the quality of health and care services, monitor public involvement, and to evaluate and provide advice on the clinical and cost-effectiveness of medicines and health technologies.
