Time to report
A reminder to healthcare professionals to fill out Yellow Card reports.
Article date: June 2011
Yellow Card reports of suspected adverse drug reactions are vital to the monitoring of side effects to medicines and vaccines. We understand that completing a Yellow Card is another demand on your valuable time, but the success of the Scheme relies on your voluntary reporting.
The following tips could help you save time when reporting Yellow Cards
Report electronically
Completing a Yellow Card does not necessarily take long if you have access to the SystmOne GP software, which has built-in Yellow Card reporting. This has been also introduced into version 3.1 of MiDatabank pharmacy software.
Also don’t forget that registering to report online at www.yellowcard.mhra.gov.uk saves time in completing your details and allows you to save a partially completed Yellow Card and return to it later.
Keep to the reporting guidelines
Focus on reporting:
- all reactions for black triangle medicines
- serious reactions for established medicines
We also are particularly interested in receiving Yellow Cards for:
- adverse reactions in children or the elderly
- delayed drug effects
- congenital anomalies
- reactions to herbal remedies
- drug interactions
Information to include
Remember for a valid Yellow Card report, we need only four pieces of information:
- suspect drug(s)
- suspected reaction(s)
- patient information (at least 1 of age, sex, or a local patient identification number)
- your name and contact details (in case we need to contact you for follow-up information)
It is helpful to have further information such as reaction outcome, concomitant medicines and relevant medical history, but should not prevent you from reporting the suspected adverse reaction if these are unavailable.
Show your support of the Yellow Card Scheme by reporting suspected adverse drug reactions for medicines and vaccines, and you can help make medicines safer.
See https://yellowcard.mhra.gov.uk
Article citation: Drug Safety Update June 2011, vol 4 issue 11: Y1.