Capital & Coast DHB celebrates patient safety initiatives

6 November 2014

Capital & Coast DHB celebrates patient safety initiatives

‘Better care starts here’ is the key focus for Capital & Coast DHB during this year’s national Patient Safety Week.

“Although patient safety is our priority 365 days a year, this week is about recognising specific actions we can take to achieve our goal of zero patient harm,” interim chief executive Debbie Chin says.

Key initiatives showcased by staff at Wellington Hospital this week included pressure injury prevention tips, techniques to reduce the risk of patients’ falling in hospital, and improved medication safety programmes for safe use of opioids.

“There is a host of activity taking place across the DHB every single day and I want to thank our staff for the effort they put into these initiatives,” Mrs Chin says.

Auditing of good practice via the Health Quality & Safety Commission’s national Quality & Safety Markers shows that Capital & Coast leads the country in correct use of the surgical safety checklist to reduce perioperative harm.

Good progress has also been made in assessing patients’ fall risks and CCDHB’s compliance with the World Health Organisation’s five moments for hand hygiene sits above the national average at 76 percent.

Performance in this area is driven by CCDHB’s Infection Prevention & Control service, who won the 2014 National Hand Hygiene Quality Improvement Award for a DHB with more than 300 beds earlier this year.

This week also coincided with the release of results from the first national patient experience survey. CCDHB welcomes all feedback as part of its commitment to patient and whānau-centred care, says Mrs Chin.

“This feedback is valuable, as it enables us to improve the care we provide. When things go wrong we need to listen and communicate openly with patients and their family and whānau,” she says.

ENDS

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