Medicines reconciliation is a way to identify and act on discrepancies in patients’ medical histories and it is found to play a key role in patient safety. This review focuses on discrepancies and medical errors that occurred at point of discharge from hospital. Studies were identified through the following electronic databases: PubMed, Sciences Direct, EMBASE, Google Scholar, Cochrane Reviews and CINAHL. Each of the six databases was screened from inception to end of January 2014. To determine eligibility of the studies; the title, abstract and full manuscript were screened to find 15 articles that meet the inclusion criteria. The median number of discrepancies across the articles was found to be 60%. In average patient had between 1.2–5.3 discrepancies when leaving the hospital. More studies also found a relation between the numbers of drugs a patient was on and the number of discrepancies. The variation in the number of discrepancies found in the 15 studies could be due to the fact that some studies excluded patient taking more than 5 drugs at admission. Medication reconciliation would be a way to avoid the high number of discrepancies that was found in this literature review and thereby increase patient safety.

Graphical abstract

Poor adherence to oral antiretroviral therapy (ART) remains an important challenge in the treatment of HIV. Microneedles (MN) potentially could offer a non-invasive long-acting (LA) delivery approach, avoiding the need for daily dosing of ART. However, this claim has yet to be explored amongst its potential end-users. The aim of this mixed methods study was to investigate the perspectives from various end-users surrounding the translation of MN technology to general clinical practice, with a particular focus on delivery of ART. Quantitative postal questionnaires were distributed amongst healthcare professionals (HCPs) and the lay public (LP). A total of 208 responses were obtained (HCP, 69; LP, 139), with a completion rate of 34.7%. The consensus on MN technology was positive from both demographics (HCP, 97.1%; LP, 98.6%), with further strong support of postulated MN use within HIV (HCP, 97.1%; LP, 98.6%). Qualitative focus groups were employed to investigate in-depth, the perspectives of 12 patients with HIV. Again, consensus on MN technology was positive, highlighting benefits pertinent to HIV, including discreet self-application and potential sustained release thus avoiding daily oral ART and associated side effects. Patient concerns focused on the need for varied MN dosing schedules and a reluctance to change from established ART. The findings of this study provide an initial indication of MN acceptability, particularly for use within HIV, from various end-user demographics. Furthermore, concerns raised advocate the importance of continued translational research in this area and should act as motivators for those in MN development to ensure a patient-centred MN product is delivered.