Reports Focus on Continuing Patient Safety Improvement Gains

21 November, 2013

Reports Focus on Continuing Patient Safety Improvement Gains

Two reports focused on further improving patient safety and care in the Bay of Plenty are released today.

The Bay of Plenty District Health Board’s (BOPDHB) first Quality Account is published on the same day as the annual Health Quality & Safety Commission’s report into serious adverse events (SAEs).

Both emphasize the BOPDHB’s continued commitment to ongoing improvement and excellence in patient care.

Quality Account

The Quality Account is the first annual report to the public from the BOPDHB about its approach to quality and aims to enhance accountability and augment quality improvement.

BOPDHB Chief Executive Officer Phil Cammish said the account gave the public assurance and confidence.

“It tracks our progress towards agreed goals and allows us to compare ourselves with both our colleague DHBs in New Zealand and against international best practice.

“It is anticipated that this account will be published annually as part of the suite of reports produced by the DHB including its annual report to Parliament.”

Quality Accounts describe what an organisation does well, where improvements can be made, and plans for improvement in the coming year.

The BOPDHB Quality Account is available to view online at www.bopdhb.govt.nz

Serious Adverse Events

The Health Quality & Safety Commission has today released Making Health and Disability Services Safer, which reports serious adverse events that have occurred in the healthcare sector over the past year.

An SAE is an incident which results in harm to people using health and disability services. In general they are incidents where serious harm to a consumer or death has resulted.

This year’s report is the first to include events reported by non-DHB providers such as private surgical hospitals, rest-homes, hospices, disability services, ambulance services, primary health organisations, the national screening unit and primary care providers.

Reporting SAEs is another important step in improving health outcomes for patients said BOPDHB Chief Executive Officer Phil Cammish.

“Being open when care fails is key to learning how to ensure that the next person who enters our system is less likely to be exposed to the same risk,” he said.

“The reporting of SAEs is not about apportioning blame, it is about learning from incidents that happen in order to prevent a recurrence, where possible.”

Nationally SAE figures have risen (by 21 per cent from 360 to 489) year-on-year but locally they have changed little in the past three years. In 2010/11, the BOPDHB reported 14 events; in 2011/12 the number recorded was 11, and there were 12 in 2012/13.

These 12 events were set against a background of 45,812 admissions at Tauranga and Whakatane Hospitals in the year.

Only one of these 12 incidents was not a patient fall. As identified in this year’s Quality Account, falls prevention is already a key focus area within the BOPDHB.

For more details visit www.bopdhb.govt.nz

ENDS

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