News
Data crucial to improve hospital safety |
| Spokesperson: | Australian Healthcare and Hospitals Association |
| Date: | Friday, 29 January 2010 |
| Category: | National Hospital News |
| New data on mistakes occurring within hospitals should be used to improve patient safety rather than isolating and blaming individual institutions or organisations, according to the Australian Healthcare and Hospitals Association (AHHA). "While Australia's hospitals are very safe, by international standards, we can always do more to prevent mistakes from occurring. Even one patient harmed in the process of receiving care is one too many and our aim should always be to reduce the numbers of adverse events to zero," Ms Prue Power, AHHA Executive Director, said today. "This requires an ongoing effort from all involved in the process of delivering and receiving care, including clinicians, hospital managers, governments and the community. By working together to identify problems and by continually reviewing all processes and procedures including communication practices, we can make our hospitals as safe as possible. "Data, such as the report from the Productivity Commission on sentinel events, can play an important role in achieving this aim. However, this data needs to be seen in context and used constructively to reduce the rate of similar incidents in the future. "Public reporting is an essential component of improving hospital safety and AHHA believes that the community has a right to know how hospitals – both public and private – are performing. "However, in order to make accurate comparisons between states, there needs to be national consistency in the collection and reporting of adverse event data. Currently, there is no uniform system across the country which makes such comparisons impossible. "It is also essential that adjustments are made for the risk profile of the patient population treated by a hospital. Clearly, hospitals which treat large numbers of very complex and high risk patients can be expected to have higher rates of adverse events than those who treat mainly low-risk patients and perform routine procedures. "There are also other indicators of patient safety – such as re-admission rates - which need to be considered when assessing the overall performance of a hospital. Sentinel events, although important, are just one indicator and need to be considered within this broader context. "AHHA welcomes the report from the Productivity Commission which will play an important role in improving patient safety throughout the hospital system,” Ms Power said. |
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