Hospitals are essential for any society and since their main purpose is to treat and heal people, it makes sense that they are safe places. However, especially in developing countries, this is not always the case. Developed countries tend to have high standards when it comes to quality and safety but unfortunately the same cannot be said in developing countries with weaker healthcare systems. Below are some steps that hospitals everywhere can take to become a safe place.
1) Don’t sacrifice safety for savings
Some hospitals and healthcare systems regardless of the country have been guilty of putting money before the safety of their patients. Employees at all levels should not be encouraged to put cost savings before anybody’s safety. We have heard stories of inadequate equipment used to carry out procedures and substandard practices occurring because of time pressures and this should never be the case. Cost cutting in the short term will actually cost more in the long term through reduced efficiency and possible legal cases.
2) Keep track of everyone entering and leaving
Especially at such a high-risk time with Covid, it is important that hospitals are aware of who is coming and going from their premises. A digital visitor management system should be implemented to record everyone present; this makes contact tracing if needed, much easier and effective. Hospitals can have many people going through their doors on a daily basis from healthcare workers, patients, visitors and many others, which combined with being an area with potentially contagious diseases, make it even more important during this time to understand who has been there.
3) Ask for, listen to and act on employee feedback
This could be from anyone who works in the hospital from the janitor, pharmacists to the doctors, they will all have their views on how it can be improved with regards to making it a safer place for everybody. By having an open-door policy where employees can offer suggestions, the hospital can make decisions based on those who will be directly affected and who are essential components of the day-to-day running.
4) Standardise procedures
By creating a standard for processes that are followed every time, safety can be drastically improved. Compliance must be followed and there must be repercussions for times when they are not. Often, there is not enough accountability when things go wrong, perpetuating a cycle of mistakes that go unpunished. Standardising procedures can start off as simple as having a checklist to go through before operations etc.
As we can see there are a few things broadly speaking, that hospitals can do or implement to improve the safety of everyone who passes through their doors. When these are combined, they will help create a much safer overall environment.