Paediatric safety panel: Tackling medicine risks together
Tracks
Track 1
| Saturday, August 2, 2025 |
| 12:20 PM - 1:00 PM |
| Pyrmont Theatre |
| Sponsored By: |
Details
Every day, 93 Australian children present to emergency departments due to medicine-related problems—half of which are preventable​. From accidental poisoning and dosing errors to off-label use, medicine safety remains a critical issue in paediatric care. This panel discussion brings together leading experts, including representatives from the poisons hotline, hospital pharmacists, and primary care practitioners, to explore the risks, challenges, and strategies to enhance medicine safety for children. Attendees will gain insights into common medicine errors, the role of pharmacists in reducing harm, and key policy recommendations to improve safe medicine use in paediatric settings.
Learning objectives
- Recognise the most common medicine-related risks in paediatric care.
- Discuss the role of pharmacists, poison information services, and healthcare teams in improving medicine safety for children.
- Describe evidence-based strategies to enhance paediatric medicine safety.
Competency standards (2016): 1.6, 2.4, 3.5, 3.6
Speakers
Sophie Brown
Director of Pharmacy
The Children's Hospital at Westmead
Paediatric safety panel: Tackling medicine risks together
Biography
Rachael Burns
Paediatric safety panel: Tackling medicine risks together
Biography
Rachael is a 22-year-old from Western Australia with Lived and Living Experience of mental ill-health, disability and neurodivergence. She is a passionate advocate who works with Consumers of Mental Health WA, Child and Adolescent Health Service, Youth Focus, Rich Mind WA, the Ministerial Advisory Council for Disability, Finding North, MIFWA, and many more. She is the founder of Integrity Initiative, a social enterprise delivering care packages to psychiatric inpatients, clinical education, community workshops and more. Her work is led by her deep values of social justice, compassion, patience and dignity.
Jess Hadley
PDL
Paediatric safety panel: Tackling medicine risks together
Biography
Jess is a registered pharmacist with almost 15 years of extensive experience in community pharmacy. She has been a managing pharmacist, proprietor and group compliance manager. Jess is one of five PDL Professional Officers and is on the Local Advisory Committee for NSW and the ACT. Her areas of interest include Schedule 8, vaccination and proprietor legislation. Jess is passionate about supporting and educating pharmacists on risk minimisation and management strategies.
James White
Pharmacist And Specialist In Poisons Information
Victorian Poisons Information Centre - Austin Health
Paediatric safety panel: Tackling medicine risks together
Biography
James White is a clinical pharmacist and specialist in poisons information (SPI) with extensive experience across emergency, paediatric, neonatal, and toxicology settings. He currently works at the Victorian Poisons Information Centre, where he leads toxicovigilance initiatives and manages complex poisonings across Victoria. With a background spanning hospital leadership and national health programs, James is also a published researcher and active contributor to toxicology education.
