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James Reason, Emeritus Professor of Psychology at the
University of Manchester speaks out on hospitals and the
safety of patients within the
National
Health Service (NHS).
He says that those
hospitals with patient safety at the forefront of their
minds are those that are high reliability organisations.
He suggests that patient safety should be raised often
and says that clinical outcomes and patient safety
should be discussed at least once a month at board
level.
He further suggests that hospitals should have a
strong culture of reporting patient safety incidents and
be ready to act promptly to make the changes necessary
to improve patient safety.
Dr Stuttaford, writing in the Times, praised the work
done by Professor John Oxford in highlighting the issue
of hygiene within hospitals and he outlines the action
that could be taken by staff, patients and members of
the public to minimise the risks of infections resulting
from poor hygiene.
He quotes Professor Oxford: “We come
from a world of infection. We live in a world of
infection and, in the future, unless we take control now
we will continue to live in a world of infection. People
should understand and meet the challenges that the
transmission of infection presents, and the preventive
measures that can be taken against this.”
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/health/article1520831.ece
Dr Stuttaford stresses the need for everyone from
doctors and nurses to the public to wash their hands
thoroughly to keep inanimate surfaces clean.
He also
calls on the NHS to go further and be prepared to be
radical in its methods to tackle infections and the
causes of them.
He suggests that patients should have
less visitors into hospitals as they are more likely to
bring infections in with them and that patients should
be tested for MRSA as soon as they are admitted to a
hospital.
He adds that as a general rule the health
service has to become used to a level of cleanliness
across the whole hospital not just the operating
theatres.
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