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The Institute of Medicine
1999 report suggested that more than ninety thousand American could
be dying each year due to medical errors that are mostly related to
system failure, but have multiple and varied primary causes. As a
result of this report improving patient safety has become one of the
driving forces in health care delivery. However, to reduce medical
errors it is important that they are reported, that data is
collected and analysed on a large scale and that results are shared
amongst the relevant institutions. This obviously requires a change
in the culture in the health care system to one where safety is
paramount and reporting is encouraged and maximized. There is also a
need to set up national reporting systems and databases to store
information and a cohesive strategy for communicating findings
effectively across the country.
Experience is showing
that in all countries it is possible to discover points of weakness
in health systems through the careful analysis of adverse events.
Organizational or management factors are sometimes also to blame,
such as understaffing or inadequate functioning of support
structures such as laboratory, the blood bank or housekeeping
services.
The World Alliance for
Patient Safety (WAPS) leads the way, it supports improvement of
patient safety globally and provides a potential framework for
patient safety as a multi-disciplinary, multi-stage and multi-system
concept, offering vision and context for the innovation necessary to
expedite the work and create significant, sustainable improvements
in culture, process, and outcomes crucial to develop safe health
care.
Patient safety
initiatives at the national and local level, launched by public and
private stakeholders have proved to be remarkably effective in
improving patient safety. Such initiatives ultimately boil down to
a list of interventions. Many of these interventions, such as hand
washing, are simple, inexpensive, and not particularly difficult to
implement. It is highly encouraging to note that seemingly
overwhelming health care problems can actually be resolved through a
series of small, specific steps crafted in the form of specific
health care initiatives.
The
conference is seeking participation from all (across all streams of
medicine) healthcare providers, healthcare institutions,
professional societies, governments, patients, and communities with
the following objectives :
1. To enhance participants’ understanding of important
concepts in patient safety and contribute to set off national
agendas for patient safety.
2. To
exchange information about patient safety initiatives and explore
emerging areas of collaboration for better understanding of the
extent of problem and develop solutions.
3. To
facilitate union of disciplines and organizations across the
continuum of care, championing a collaborative, inclusive,
multi-stakeholder approach.
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