Transparency to Ensure Patient Safety

Oct. 1, 2009 - PRLog -- Dubai, United Arab Emirates: The single greatest impediment to error prevention in the medical industry is “that we punish people for making mistakes.” This statement was made by Dr. Lucian Leape, Professor at the Harvard School of Public Health in 2007, during his testimony before the US Congress on health care quality improvement.

In recent years, risk management has been influenced by the growing awareness of the number of errors, incidents and near-misses that happen in healthcare and the effect on the safety of patients.  Dr Shakil Ahmad, Senior Clinical Quality Specialist at the Abu Dhabi Health Services Company SEHA will be discussing the topic of ‘blame’ in the patient safety arena at the Patient Safety Exhibition & Congress held at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (ADNEC) from 11 to 13 October 2009.

"The Patient Safety Exhibition & Congress 2009 will go a long way towards enhancing a patient safety culture where all decisions are taken considering patient safety as the top priority. My talk is intended to stimulate a discussion on how a healthcare fraternity can propagate a “just culture” and get out of the dilemma “To Blame or Not to Blame”,” says Dr. Shakil Ahmad.

This issue is particular relevant in today’s society with the spread of infectious diseases such as the H1N1-influenza a concern for healthcare authorities around the world. Diseases control is top priority and designing safe systems, such as the Central Sterile Supply Departments (CSSD), is tantamount to the prevention of the spread of infection to patients and medial personnel. Through the use of CSSD, hospital management and health authorities can maintain a record of the effectiveness of the procedures used in cleaning, disinfection and sterilization and they can monitor and enforce necessary controls.

“The aim of all those who are privileged to work in any healthcare organization is to ensure that whatever they are employed to do will ultimately ensure the safety of patients,” says Gillian A Sills, Conference Chairman of the Patient Safety Exhibition & Congress. “Although those technicians and managers working in decontamination sciences may not be involved in direct patient care, they are both responsible and accountable for ensuring that reusable medical devices are fit for use at all times.  Our conference this year will highlight some of the prevailing problems in addition to offering solutions for improvement in the important role decontamination service practitioners hold within healthcare.”

The Patient Safety Exhibition & Congress will become one of the rare events in the world featuring a virtual CSSD module with full through flow. This virtual CSSD module will provide excellent educational opportunities for healthcare professionals and some of the industry’s leading products and brands including Steris, Getigne, Mercer, Johnson & Johnson and Tristel will be on display at the virtual CSSD module during the event.

According to Mrs Sills, “The presence of a virtual CSSD module will undoubtedly enhance the value delegates will gain from this meeting since it will enable them to actually visualize the design features critical to the safe reprocessing of reusable medical devices.”

For more information about the virtual CSSD module please call +971 4 407 2743 or visit www.ah-patientsafety.com for details on attending this much anticipated event.

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Note to Editors

About Patient Safety Exhibition & Congress 2009: One of the most important issues in modern healthcare today is ensuring the safety of patients in the region and across the world; however, approximately two in ten patients still remain victims of errors. The Patient Safety Exhibition & Congress is designed to act as a ‘call to action’ for hospitals, healthcare centres and government agencies to make patient safety their highest priority, as well as draft guidelines for setting up practical guidance to help clinicians and managers make this a reality. www.ah-patientsafety.com

About SEHA:
SEHA is an independent, public joint stock company created to manage and develop the curative activities of the public hospitals and clinics of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. SEHA owns and operates 12 hospital facilities, 2,644 licensed beds, and more than 40 Ambulatory and Primary Healthcare Clinics and is one of the largest employers in the Middle East.  SEHA delivers world class healthcare, locally, by partnering with internationally recognized healthcare leaders including Johns Hopkins Medicine, Cleveland Clinic, Bumrungrad International, New England Center for Children, Vamed, and Vienna Medical University. www.seha.ae

About CSSD:
Those working in the central sterile department also called the central supply department in some hospitals, are responsible for washing and sterilizing certain patient care equipment and instruments, and issuing patient care supplies, and delivering equipment to patient care units.

For media enquiries please contact:
Inga Stevens
PR Manager
Life Sciences Division
IIR Middle East
T: +971 4 407 2743
F: +971 4 336 4021
inga.stevens@iirme.com