Patient Safety a priority for Health in the North West
The North West Department of Health MEC Madoda Sambatha has commended the World Health Organisation for declaring the 17th of September as the World Patient Safety Day. The objective of World Patient Safety Day is to raise global awareness about patient safety and encourage global solidarity and action. Statistics show that around 134 million adverse events contribute to 2.6 million deaths each year due to unsafe care globally.
“This initiative will go a long way in raising awareness around issues of patient safety. The declaration of the World Patient Safety Day by the World Health Organization comes at a time when the Department has prioritized patient safety in our health facilities. We have dealt with a number of complains around safety of our patients and the time has come for the Department to give our patients assurance of their safety when in our facilities for health care”, said MEC Sambatha.
Internally, the department has developed a policy on Health Adverse Incidents Management. The policy focuses on proactive management of patient safety by identifying causes and strategies for prevention. It also proposes redesigning organizational systems and behavioral choices based on learning through analysis of adverse incidents. The approach is to prevent adverse events and ensure patient safety.
Clinical guidelines have since been distributed to all health facilities across the province and orientation of health professionals is continuing. They are made available for staff to use, and to ensure re-training when required.
“Patient safety is also one of the key National Core Standards by which we are measured in terms of compliance to quality health service delivery. I highlighted this during the Provincial Hospitals Seminar held in Rustenburg. The assessment done by the Office of Health Standards Compliance (OHSC) in the Province’s health establishments indicate that patient safety/clinical care is at a score of 56%. This is an area we need to do a lot on because of the huge amounts of complains and cases of medical negligence against the Department in this area”, MEC Sambatha elaborate.
The department celebrated the first ever World Patient Safety Day by raising awareness, conducting health talks and distributing pamphlets in various health facilities across the Province. The World Patient Safety Day will be an annual event and the department will continue to play a key role in introducing various strategies to ensure patient safety in health facilities.
Enquiries:
Tebogo Lekgethwane, Departmental Spokesperson
Cell: 082 9299 958
