Patient Safety in Action
Objective 3: Patient safety spread
“Improvements to make care safer for patients take time and commitment, and I welcome the energy that the APPS partnership hospitals have demonstrated in accepting this challenge. The skills and expertise that each partner brings enriches the body of knowledge for patient safety, not just for APPS, but for all WHO Member States.”
Sir Liam Donaldson – WHO Envoy for Patient Safety
Catalysing systems for safer health care
Systematic planning for the spread of patient safety activity, learning and understanding has been a crucial element of APPS from its inception. Spread is considered from the onset of partnership activity. The focus is on ensuring patient safety learning within partnerships does not sit in isolation, but effectively accelerates national and regional patient safety action too. The progress of spread activity is integrated into the programme’s evaluation framework. Scale-up and ‘spread’ are key to making a sustainable long-term difference to the safety and quality of health services for people across the African Region.
The case of Ethiopia
APPS activities in Ethiopia have resulted in co-ordinated national spread of patient safety improvement through the Ethiopian Ministry of Health. APPS connected organizations focused on health system quality and key systems stakeholders to a Ministry of Health forum where patient safety problems and proposed solutions were presented. Four hospitals were designated by the Ministry of Health for a national patient safety project which led to national regulations, a training manual, a national protocol reference book and cascade training in all regions of Ethiopia.
Community Engagement
Communities, patients and families need to be involved in improving health services across Africa. Civil society is having an increasing impact on service delivery improvement in the African region and should be mobilised to participate in patient safety efforts. Awareness and understanding of patient rights in patient safety is critical. Community engagement is a core thread running throughout APPS and has been considered essential to the long-term success, sustainability and spread of patient safety improvement from its inception. The challenge is to develop effective mechanisms for patients and communities to feel comfortable sharing their perspectives, as well as being actively involved in developing systems that will keep them safe.
Community members receiving information on hand hygiene at Kamuzu Hospital, Malawi.
Patients Charter, Gondar University Hospital, Ethiopia.