By Dr Than Lwin Tun
World Patient Safety Day, observed annually on 17 September, is a vital occasion for raising awareness about the importance of patient safety and fostering a culture of continuous improvement in healthcare practices worldwide. World Patient Safety Day is an opportunity to raise public awareness and foster collaboration between patients, health workers, policymakers and healthcare leaders to improve patient safety.
This year (2024), the theme is “Improving diagnosis for patient safety” with the slogan “Get it right, make it safe!”, highlighting the critical importance of correct and timely diagnosis in ensuring patient safety and improving health outcomes.
A diagnosis identifies a patient’s health problem, and is a key to accessing the care and treatment they need. A diagnostic error is the failure to establish a correct and timely explanation of a patient’s health problem, which can include delayed, incorrect, or missed diagnoses, or a failure to communicate that explanation to the patient.
Diagnostic safety can be significantly improved by addressing the systems-based issues and cognitive factors that can lead to diagnostic errors. Systemic factors are organizational vulnerabilities that predispose to diagnostic errors, including communication failures between health workers or health workers and patients, heavy workloads, and ineffective teamwork. Cognitive factors involve clinician training and experience as well as predisposition to biases, fatigue and stress.
The Importance of Patient Safety
Patient safety is a fundamental component of high-quality healthcare. It includes a range of practices and strategies designed to prevent errors, avoidable harm, and adverse events during medical treatment. The goal is to provide care that not only addresses patients’ health needs but also safeguards them from harm. World Patient Safety Day serves as a reminder of the critical importance of this aspect of healthcare, highlighting the need for caution and proactive measures to protect patients. The errors in healthcare can have serious consequences, leading to prolonged illness, disability, or even death. According to the WHO, millions of patients worldwide are harmed every year due to unsafe care. These incidents are often preventable and result from systemic issues such as inadequate protocols, insufficient training, or communication breakdowns. By emphasizing patient safety, World Patient Safety Day seeks to address these challenges and encourage healthcare systems to implement best practices that minimize risks and improve outcomes.
Challenges in Patient Safety
Despite significant advancements in medical technology and knowledge, ensuring patient safety remains a complex challenge. Several factors contribute to the persistence of safety issues in healthcare settings:
Human Error: Healthcare professionals, despite their training and expertise, are prone to making errors. These can result from fatigue, stress, or miscommunication, impacting patient safety.
Lack of follow to Standardization Procedure: Variability in procedures and practices across different institutions can result in inconsistent care and increased risk of harm.
Communication Barriers: Effective communication among healthcare providers and between providers and patients is crucial for ensuring safety. Miscommunication can lead to mistakes and misunderstandings that affect patient care.
Addressing these challenges requires a multifaceted approach, including improving training and education, standardizing procedures, and fostering a culture of openness and learning.
Promoting a Culture of Safety
Creating a safer healthcare environment involves not only addressing specific risks but also fostering a culture of safety. This means encouraging openness about errors and near-misses, learning from mistakes, and continually striving to improve. World Patient Safety Day plays a crucial role in promoting this culture by:
Raising Awareness: By focusing on specific themes each year, World Patient Safety Day highlights key areas for improvement and encourages healthcare providers and patients alike to prioritize safety.
Engaging Stakeholders: Collaboration between healthcare professionals, policymakers, patients, and the public is essential for driving improvements. World Patient Safety Day provides a platform for these stakeholders to come together and advocate for better practices and policies.
Educating and Training: Ongoing education and training are critical for maintaining high standards of patient safety. World Patient Safety Day serves as an opportunity to emphasize the importance of these efforts and to share best practices.
Policy and Regulations: Effective policies and regulations are necessary to support safe practices and address systemic issues. World Patient Safety Day calls for policymakers to prioritize patient safety in their agendas and to implement changes that can lead to safer healthcare environments.
In addition, World Patient Safety Day is a powerful reminder of the ongoing need to prioritize patient safety and to work towards eliminating preventable harm in healthcare. By raising awareness, addressing challenges, and promoting a culture of safety, this day encourages a global commitment to improving care and safeguarding patients. As we observe World Patient Safety Day, let us renew our dedication to making healthcare safer for everyone, ensuring that each patient receives the high-quality, harm-free care they deserve.
References
-https://www.who.int/news-room/events/detail/2024/09/17/default-calendar/world-patient-safety-day-17-september-2024-improving-diagnosis-for-patient-safety