Exploring patient participation in reducing health-care-related safety risks

Exploring patient participation in reducing health-care-related safety risks
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of being implemented locally (103) and which involves patients and their organizations.
The following recommendations can be made.
Recommendation 1 – Involve all stakeholders in patient safety
Enhancing the participation of all health stakeholders, including patients, in the
development of national policies and programmes on patient safety (3,104) and in
the design and evaluation of health services (2) could lead to stronger engagement
of, and commitment from, patients. Merging the three existing patients’ charters that
define individual and societal responsibilities could be a way to clarify the national
commitment to assuring patients’ rights to be informed and to informed consent.
Recommendation 2 – Develop national guidelines
Developing national guidelines on quality information (addressed to HCWs) will
allow homogeneity of information presented to patients across similar settings (such as
surgical units) within different health care institutions.
Recommendation 3 – Design instruments to enhance patient involvement in safe surgery
Designing and enforcing instruments to assist the patient to become truly engaged in
the process of safe surgery could also be suggested, following existing experience. Various
good examples of this can be found in the relevant international literature (Box 6.1).
Box 6 .1 . Examples of instruments that help patients to be involved in safe surgery
» A good example is the consumer fact sheet developed by the National Patient Safety Foundation, which is
based on five steps to help patients to become involved in the process of safe health care (7).
» A 2002 campaign by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations and the Centers
for Medicare and Medicaid Services urges patients to play a part in preventing medical errors (105).
Through posters, brochures, videos and other promotional materials, the Speak Up campaign encourages
patients to:
• speak up about any concerns they have
• pay attention to their health care
• educate themselves about their illness or condition
• ask for help from an advocate
• know the medications they take
• use a high-quality health care facility
• participate in decisions about their health care.
» The Speak Up brochure entitled Speak up: help avoid mistakes in your surgery gives the patient important
tips to help him or her to make the surgery safer by being an involved and informed member of the health
care team, before and after the surgery (106).
» Another tool, developed by the New Mexico Medical Review Association, encourages patients to talk
with the surgical team and to ask specific questions before surgery, enabling them to play an active role in
improving surgical safety by avoiding infection, blood clots and heart attacks (107).
» The information booklet (also available on the Internet) entitled Having surgery? What do you need to know?
(80) developed by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality aims to help patients undergoing
elective surgery and their families by giving them some questions to ask to the primary care doctor and
the surgeon. This tool should help patients to know more about the surgery, anaesthesia, recovery process,
alternatives, costs, benefits and risks, as well as how to obtain a second opinion.
Recommendation 4 – Design an education campaign for health care professionals
Acknowledging that HCW-related factors contribute to patient participation in
enhancing health care safety, it is important to understand the level of acceptance and