National trends of medication incident reporting

Updated on November 11, 2025 (Originally posted on November 7, 2025) The Tablet

ISMP Canada has a number of resources that can give pharmacists an at-a-glance understanding of the types and severity of medication incidents being reported across the country. 

The National Incident Data Repository (NIDR) for community pharmacies has been collecting medication incident reporting data since 2008. In 2024, the latest reporting year, ISMP Canada received 26,000 reports of medication incidents submitted by more than 1,700 community pharmacies. The following information is taken from ISMP Canada’s 2025 National Snapshot.

Medication incident reporting
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National Resources

Medication Safety Self-Assessment Data Spotlight

ISMP Canada produces a data spotlight for its Medication Safety Self-Assessment (MSSA) for community pharmacies. 

One area identified recently for community pharmacies was related to errors involving “high-alert” medications, drugs that bear a heightened risk of causing significant harm when they are used in error. 

ISMP Canada Safety Bulletins

These monthly bulletins highlight scenarios, medications, emerging technologies, patterns and other areas where there may be increased risk of medication incidents.

Community Pharmacy Provincial Safety Briefs

Every six months, a safety brief is produced for each province providing data to the NIDR that looks at the reports received during that time period along with identifiable insights. 

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