being a medicine commonly requested by abusers seeking opioids and abused by health professionals. Key definitions Parenteral opioid dosage means ampoules, vials or infusion bags of any opioid medicine for parenteral administration. Data collection for local use Please refer to the section Using the National Quality Use of Medicines Indicators for Australian Hospitals for guidance on sample selection, sample size, measurement frequency and other considerations. Inclusion criteria: Orders or requisitions for parenteral opioids presented to the pharmacy. Exclusion criteria: Supplies of parenteral opioids to hospitals. Recommended data sources: Opioid orders or requisitions and relevant pharmacy records. The data collection tool for QUM Indicator 6.3 assists data collection and indicator calculation. Data collection for comparison This indicator may be suitable for comparison. In this case, definitions, sampling methods and guidelines for audit and reporting need to be agreed in advance in consultation with the coordinating agency. Indicator calculation Numerator = Number of parenteral opioid dosage units that are pethidine Denominator = Total number of parenteral opioid dosage units requisitioned from pharmacy (including pethidine) in sample Limitations and interpretation This indicator does not examine the reason for pethidine utilisation or use of oral pethidine. If there is concern about the results of this indicator, further investigation may be appropriate. It is acknowledged that pethidine may be an appropriate therapy in some specific indications. Nevertheless, the of pethidine to all parenteral opioids should be close to zero. Further information A safety bulletin issued by the Institute for Safe Medication Practices Canada, includes recommendations for improving safety with pethidine (meperidine), is available at This indicator can be used to assist hospitals in meeting the National Safety and Quality Health Service Standard 1 [items 1.2.1, 1.2.2, 1.5.2, 1.6.1, 1.6.2] and Standard 4 [items 4.1.2, 4.2.2, 4.5.1, 4.5.2, 4.11.1].4 References
being a medicine commonly requested by abusers seeking opioids and abused by health professionals. Key definitions Parenteral opioid dosage means ampoules, vials or infusion bags of any opioid medicine for parenteral administration. Data collection for local use Please refer to the section Using the National Quality Use of Medicines Indicators for Australian Hospitals for guidance on sample selection, sample size, measurement frequency and other considerations. Inclusion criteria: Orders or requisitions for parenteral opioids presented to the pharmacy. Exclusion criteria: Supplies of parenteral opioids to hospitals. Recommended data sources: Opioid orders or requisitions and relevant pharmacy records. The data collection tool for QUM Indicator 6.3 assists data collection and indicator calculation. Data collection for comparison This indicator may be suitable for comparison. In this case, definitions, sampling methods and guidelines for audit and reporting need to be agreed in advance in consultation with the coordinating agency. Indicator calculation Numerator = Number of parenteral opioid dosage units that are pethidine Denominator = Total number of parenteral opioid dosage units requisitioned from pharmacy (including pethidine) in sample Limitations and interpretation This indicator does not examine the reason for pethidine utilisation or use of oral pethidine. If there is concern about the results of this indicator, further investigation may be appropriate. It is acknowledged that pethidine may be an appropriate therapy in some specific indications. Nevertheless, the of pethidine to all parenteral opioids should be close to zero. Further information A safety bulletin issued by the Institute for Safe Medication Practices Canada, includes recommendations for improving safety with pethidine (meperidine), is available at This indicator can be used to assist hospitals in meeting the National Safety and Quality Health Service Standard 1 [items 1.2.1, 1.2.2, 1.5.2, 1.6.1, 1.6.2] and Standard 4 [items 4.1.2, 4.2.2, 4.5.1, 4.5.2, 4.11.1].4 References
SAQ127_National_QUM_Indicators_V14.docx