UNAIR NEWS – Healthcare professionals must commit to achieving highly reliable care to ensure patient safety. Prof Tan Kok Hian underlined the statement in the 1st International Symposium on Patient Safety and Quality. The Group Director and Senior Associate Dean of SingHealth Duke-NUS Institute for Patient Safety and Quality, Duke-NUS Medical School presented his material, “Patient Engagement: Best Practices from Singapore & Beyond”.
The event was held by the Patient Safety Research Center of Universitas Airlangga at the Bumi Surabaya City Resort Hotel on Monday, November 20, 2023. Prof Tan named five aspects of global patient safety actions that need to be reviewed, relating to patients and families. The aspects are mindset and culture; strategies to implement high-reliability care; safe and quality processes; patient engagement; and staff education and training.
The goal is to provide information and advocate for patients effectively. In the case of an incident, it’s important to conduct transparent disclosure of patient safety incidents to the victims. The staff also need to learn from such experiences. Besides, policy development is necessary to produce effective and reliable patient care.
“Together with patients, we seek ways to deliver care with high reliability, aiming for zero harm. So, no unsafe events, no overuse, no medication errors, no complications, and no unaffordable care,” he said.
Professor Tan emphasizes that leadership commitment is a crucial foundation. This leadership can involve building a culture of collaboration and patience.
“So, how can we advance? First, leadership actions for patient engagement. We need to change the mindset to prioritize partnerships with patients and considering their feedback. In reality, collaborating to build better healthcare services requires abilities and capacity development,” he said.
Raising levels of patient activation
Healthcare professionals encounter various types of patients. Therefore, it’s crucial for a healthcare professional to enhance patient activation through diverse methods.
“We will encounter compliant patients who are aware of their participation in medical care. However, unfortunately, there are still some patients who are non-compliant with medical procedures. Therefore, we must position ourselves to connect with them,” he said.
Hence, healthcare professionals can leverage patient groups with awareness to facilitate healthcare services. For instance, a patient who has the ability to detect and report near misses and errors can participate in programs that educate other patients about safety hazards. Not only that, they can also take part in patient safety and engage in promoting a culture of safety improvement.
“We have different levels. They can be in a patient support group, engage in patient-centered care providing feedback, participate in a program, or they can be in a partnering care entity,” he said.
Author: Aidatul Fitriyah
Editor: Khefti Al Mawalia
