October 8th 2026

By Ailsa Colquhoun

DDA26: How to boost safety through a robust dispensing process

“The dispenser has an important role to spot prescribing errors, and check if uncertain.”

That is the message from Dr Ben Burgess, DDA Board member, in his DDA Conference 2026 presentation, Safety: Common Drug Errors, High-Risk Drugs, Lone Workers and More.

His presentation highlighted the importance, and the factors involved in achieving good dispensary organisation and a robust dispensing process.

This includes separating dispensing /assembly areas and roles from telephone or customer hatch areas.

The presentation also highlighted resources such as a template lone working risk matrix and the DDA’s library of SOPs

View the presentation slides.

Listen to the audio (from 29.20)