To enhance elusive patient safety culture, give the invalids a voice

September 17 was International Patient Safety Day. Interestingly, the theme this year was on the safety culture, which has been a clarion call in healthcare since the advent of medical practice in the Hippocrates era with the motto, “Do no harm”.

“Do no harm” is the epitome of the medical practice. It’s the mainstay principle that requires healthcare workers to endeavour not to cause further damage and suffering as a result of their actions to the patients. Safety in healthcare is paramount.

Although most healthcare workers have no intention of causing medical errors, the complexity of healthcare, advances in medical technology and newer drugs sometimes make this difficult. Mistakes do occur, sometimes with deadly consequences to the patients.

One major thing missing in our health system is the need to identify institutional weakness in the event of a medical error. Instead, we punish the individual healthcare worker, making them second victims.

Punishing the healthcare staff, though sometimes advocated, makes learning from the mistakes difficult as the opportunity is eclipsed. As a result, healthcare workers fear to freely report medical error incidents due to reprisals. Crucial data is lost at this point that could help in improvement!

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), patient safety is a serious global public health problem. It is estimated that the risk of dying from a plane crash is one in three million but that of the sick dying from preventable medical error is 1:300. The safety record in healthcare is therefore dismal compared to high-tech industries like nuclear and aviation.

WHO data from high-income countries shows one in 10 patients are harmed while receiving hospital care although at least half of these medical errors are preventable.

In low-income countries, the frequency and preventability of adverse events or medical errors is eight per cent, says the WHO. Though 83 per cent of these are preventable, they cause 30 per cent of patient deaths.

In Kenya, patient safety is even worse. According to a 2014 Ministry of Health report, provision of safe healthcare in the country cannot be guaranteed in a majority of facilities, both public and private. At the 13 facilities surveyed, overall patient safety compliance was relatively poor with very few facilities meeting some minimal standards.

Patient safety issues are on an upward trend, as evidenced by increased reporting of medical errors in our health facilities.

It is a well-known fact that healthcare revolves around patient care. Patients are the reason for the healthcare services. If we cannot improve safety culture in our facilities, we have no moral reason to practise medical science. Failure to re-energise the patient safety culture focus in our healthcare will be like chasing the wind.

In the HBO documentary, Bleed Out, Burrows, a filmmaker, dives into the heart of the American healthcare system to establish what happened to his mother after a hip replacement and unearths the mess that left the woman with a severe disability.

Such a deep and critical analysis should be conducted on our health system as it is ‘bleeding out’ with many documented cases of gross patient violations, some recent, all related to patient safety.

But even with all these inadequacies, 70 per cent of medical errors can be prevented. One of the solutions is reconnecting appropriately with the patients to the point where they can speak up when they see things going wrong in their care programme and requesting feedback from the consumers.

An empowered and engaged patient can be a powerful tool to enhance the safety culture. A patient’s voice can be a great radar for safer care. Patient safety culture is an essential tool for improving quality care rather than punishing a healthcare staff who commits an error.