- Patient safety progress imperative
- Global collaboration needed
- UK healthcare ranks poorly
A report states that the healthcare systems in Estonia, Israel, and Austria are safer than those in the United Kingdom and the United States.
The Institute of Global Health Innovation at Imperial College London analyzed data about thirty-eight developed nations.
In determining their rankings, the specialists focused on four critical indicators of patient safety: neonatal disorders, treatable mortality, adverse effects of medical treatment, and maternal mortality.
This includes medical errors and causes of mortality that are largely preventable with timely and effective healthcare, such as screening and treatment.
Sweden and South Korea followed Norway at the top of the standings, with the United Kingdom and Mexico occupying the twenty-first and last positions, respectively.
The United States ranked among the poorest six nations, as per the rankings.
According to the analysis, 173,356 lives might have been preserved in the United Kingdom in 2019 if it had performed at the same level as the top 10% of countries.
This would have resulted in a reduction of 15,773 treatable mortality deaths, 776 neonatal deaths, 27 maternal deaths, and 780 deaths attributable to adverse consequences of medical treatment.
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Global Efforts for Patient Safety Improvement
The authors observe that while many others have survived substandard care, they were left with preventable physical or mental disabilities that are not included in this report.
Patient Safety Watch commissioned the ‘Global State of Patient Safety’ report, which details member nations of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.
The statement reads, “Our country ranking for patient safety reveals existing performance disparities and clear opportunities for international learning sharing.”
The researchers warn that increased global cooperation and data reporting will complete and sufficiently support efforts to improve patient safety, endangering lives and property.
Although all 89 indicators were considered for the report, including the four utilized in generating the league table, each nation could furnish only some.
The group computed the mean safety score for all countries. Subsequently, it assigned final scores to each country according to the standard deviation, which denotes the degree of variation in performance from the mean.
Australia, New Zealand, and Norway have the most significant patient safety data accessible, 75, compared to the United Kingdom’s 68.
Professor Professor Lord Ara Darzi, co-director of the Institute of Global Health Innovation, stated, “In order to improve patient safety, we must first acknowledge that progress is impossible without measurement.
Our report emphasizes the urgency to establish a comprehensive global framework for gathering patient safety data, filling in current data gaps, and implementing meaningful indicators.
Collective Action for Patient Safety
“Since collaboration is the foundation of progress, it is critical that we increase patient safety collectively.”
Assessing patient safety from the patient’s standpoint and wholeheartedly embracing interventions that integrate the viewpoints of patients, families, and carers are imperative.
Numerous indicators have exhibited marginal progress over time, and there is substantial variation in performance, even among analogous groups of nations, according to the authors.
A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Care stated, “Any death resulting from failures in this area is intolerable, as patient safety is of the utmost importance.
“This report recognizes that the United Kingdom has implemented substantial measures to enhance healthcare safety.”
“To ensure patients’ voices resonate throughout the health system, we appointed the first Patient Safety Commissioner and implemented the first NHS Patient Safety Strategy.”
Advocacy for NHS Accountability and Safety
“Last week, we announced an examination of the NHS duty of candour and the establishment of a new independent body, the Health Services Safety Investigations Body, tasked with investigating serious patient safety incidents and integrating system-wide learning.”
Patient Safety Watch’s James Titcombe became an advocate for patient safety in 2008, nine days after the delivery of his son Joshua, due to deficiencies in his care.
Joshua was among eleven infants and a mother who passed away at the University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Trust over nine years.
Moreover, Mr. Titcombe stated, “Thousands of lives could be saved if the NHS were as safe as the highest performing nations, and the NHS in England ranks only twenty-first out of thirty-eight countries in terms of patient safety, according to an analysis of the data.”
“Government leaders and the NHS must realize that we need to do more to hasten the rate of change.”
Healthcare systems across the globe function within distinct and frequently singular environments; however, regarding patient safety, they often collaborate to resolve comparable challenges.
“Sharing data, strategies, and interventions implemented to improve patient safety on a global scale has the potential to significantly accelerate progress not only in the United Kingdom but globally as well.”
“I am optimistic that the report presented today and the publicly accessible data platform will serve as a catalyst to aid forthcoming endeavours aimed at expediting the advancement of patient safety, both domestically and internationally.”
