Coordinated globally by the World Health Organisation (WHO), the event’s core message is to ask hospital and healthcare workers to speak up for patient safety, improving practice wherever possible and reducing avoidable harm within clinical settings. To show international solidarity with this message, cities around the world will light up monuments in orange colour, signalling their commitment to safety of patients. This includes the Jet d’Eau in Geneva, the Pyramids in Cairo, the Kuala Lumpur Tower, The Royal Opera House in Muscat and the Zakim bridge in Boston among others.
To mark the occasion locally, nurses and doctors at Bassetlaw Hospital, Doncaster Royal Infirmary and Montagu Hospital have hosted their very own World Patient Safety Day event. The half-day session featured discussions from the organisation’s Safeguarding, Falls Prevention, Infection Prevention and Control, Skin Integrity and Medicines Management teams, to name just a few, as well as a spotlight on sepsis management and sharing patient experience, offering crucial insights and learning for those in attendance.
Patient safety is a priority for the local hospitals, which has made excellent strides in this particular area throughout the past six years. This includes record-low infection rates, with the Trust soon to register 700 days without incidence of hospital-acquired MRSA, as well as a 40.2% decrease in the number of serious incidents reported. In addition to this, a number of improvements have also been implemented, such as increasing visiting times, better meal-time processes on wards and an emphasis on ensuring services are as quiet as can be while patients are sleeping.
David Purdue, Director of Nursing, Midwifery and Allied Health Professionals and Deputy Chief Executive, said: “Ensuring we are committed to patient safety helps us to avoid unintended or unexpected harm for those in our care. As a Trust, we are utterly dedicated to minimising patient safety incidents, as well as driving improvements to ensure we provide the highest quality care and treatment.
“Events such as World Patient Safety Day offer us the opportunity to come together, share best practice, learn from challenges and, ultimately, grow as an organisation. It is our vision to be the safest Trust in England, outstanding in all that we do, and I believe today was another step towards this direction.”
From 1 April 2018 to 31 March 2019, Doncaster and Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals cared for approximately 123,200 inpatients, 472,000 outpatients and delivered more than 4,700 babies. The Trust will be hosting its next patient safety event in early 2020, with a special guest speaker and further opportunities to share best practice for patient care and safety.