World Patient Safety Day “Get it right, make it safe!”

The theme for this year’s World Patient Safety Day’s is focused on improving diagnosis for patient safety, using the slogan “Get it right, make it safe!”.

If you talk to any clinician, they will advise that Patient Safety is one of the fundamental areas of good practice. According to the World Health Organisation around 1 in every 10 patients are harmed in healthcare and more than 3 million deaths occur annually due to unsafe care.

At CHKS we are championing improvements in healthcare through assurance and accreditation of importance in patent safety and the quality of care provided by health care organisations.

This is through encouraging organisations to be transparent, accountable, offer open communication, and to support patients and their families during & after their healthcare journey.

But how do we achieve this. CHKS has generated Standards and criteria with guidance, as to how organisations should operate to achieve high standards. These standards feed our key philosophies for quality care of:

General Standards: Achievement of fundamental practices reflecting good healthcare standards. 

Patient-Centred Care: A commitment to approaches and practices that prioritise patient needs and experiences. 

Resource Utilisation: Efficient use of resources within a supportive environment enables staff to excel in service delivery. 

Engagement and Support: Staff are actively involved and supported in achieving meaningful changes in care. 

Continuous Improvement: A culture that encourages self-development and accountability, aiming for ongoing enhancements to care and practices. 

All CHKS standards include guidance to aide clients in understanding requirements of each criteria e.g.

The organisation must adhere to national legislation and professional guidance, ensuring transparency when unanticipated harmful incidents occur. This includes:

Providing truthful communication to affected patients and their families.

Offering apologies and explanations.

Supplying necessary support (practical and emotional).

Ensuring continuity of care for those involved.

These standards reflect a commitment to high-quality, safe healthcare practices built on transparency and support for both patients and healthcare providers. 

Learn more about how CHKS has supported the Soth Infirmary Victoria University Hospital to become a safer and better organisation.

“My name is Anne Morrison, Unit Manager with Southscan MRI , a small, but very busy private MRI Unit, based in the South Infirmary Victoria University Hospital, in Cork- Ireland.”

"The Unit has engaged with CHKS since 2010, and I would credit CHKS with making us a better, safer organisation. Prior to working with CHKS, we would not have had such a structured approach to analysing the many aspects of delivering a safe system of care, to include incident reporting, auditing and risk management."

"We now have a robust management system in place, with regular Management, Staff, and Clinical Governance meetings where all aspects of our business are reviewed, giving all staff a predictable format / platform to present any issue that needs to be discussed."

"Having CHKS in our corner helps to motivate staff, and can indeed on occasion be used to generate support for new initiatives- patient / staff satisfaction surveys come to mind!"

"The focus on safety is paramount in our Unit, as the inherent risks associated with the ever present powerful magnetic field need to be carefully managed."

"We have increased our signage to raise awareness, and regular auditing of patient safety checklists assist with tracking staff performance and compliance with policies and procedures."

“Referrers ae contacted directly if they refer a patient with any contra Indication to MRI to highlight safety concerns.”

“To conclude I can commend CHKS for making us more questioning of our own practice, and looking to continuously improve the delivery of our MRI scanning service to all stakeholders.”

If you have further questions or need to discuss any specific aspects of these standards, please feel free to contact us here: https://www.chks.co.uk/Contact-Us