MHRA opens patient safety essay competition to pharmacy students for 2026

SHOTS Desk · Mon · 2 Nov 2026 · 14:15 · Reported

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency has launched its 2026 national patient safety essay competition, expanding eligibility to pharmacy students alongside UK medical students following queries from pharmacists after last year's debut. The 2026 competition received 68 entries from more than 30 medical schools across the UK in its first year.

Entrants must submit up to 2,000 words on how the Yellow Card scheme can identify risks from AI used as a medical device and how reporting of AI-related adverse events by patients and healthcare professionals could be improved. Entries close 11 January 2027. Six prizes are available: first prize is £500 plus an invitation to present at a national meeting of the Commission on Human Medicines and the Interim Devices Working Group; second and third prizes are £300 and £200 in each category.

The competition coincides with #MedSafetyWeek (2–8 November 2026), an international campaign in which more than 130 organisations from over 120

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