IN the previous weeks, different medical errors were highlighted to inform our readers on the reality of medical errors happening in our hospitals in the country. Different types of medical errors were also explored to orient would-be patients where to look and and how to detect potential errors in the management of their medical conditions.
Knowing these errors allows you to discuss your concerns further with your attending physician. This improves the quality of health care delivery and the outcomes of your care. The most crucial factor to look for in choosing the best hospital to trust is its culture of patient safety. To ensure safe patient care, hospitals must breathe patient safety in everything they do. You can find it from the way the hospital treats you in the emergency room and the way your attending physician respects your needs. If you can find it in your favorite hospital, you are a lucky one.
However, first, let us define what we mean by “safety culture.”
A safety culture pertains to the manner every aspect of the hospital (or any healthcare institution) operates in providing you high-quality patient care.
If the medical staff in the emergency department ignores you when you come in, rest assured that they do not welcome your presence there. They simply have to deal with you because it was their job. Thus, by that attitude alone, you can expect that quality care is constrained by lack of interest in your care.
If the hospital restroom stinks to the point where you want to go out somewhere to pee, rest assured that such a hospital has serious limitations in maintaining their cleanliness in the rooms and wards as well. Are they clean enough to prevent the circulation of hospital-borne diseases?
If your attending physician does not explain to you your condition and the approach to your care and treatment, is it because the doctor does not respect your intelligence or is it because the doctor has not mastered the disease enough to explain it to you in plain words?
The culture of safety in a hospital or a clinic reflects the quality of care you will receive from that venue. Its absence provides a clue that an attitude to painstakingly avoid the potential occurrence of errors does not exist or is at below the desirable level for a reliably safe patient care.
The culture of safety is also complex, and therefore difficult to implement because it requires painstaking monitoring of the error rates in every unit in the hospital through research. Unit and inter-unit politics can get in the way.
Remember that being an educated patient is far better than staying an ignorant patient.