Patient Safety Week focuses on good communication at DHB

4 November 2015

Taranaki DHB is holding its second annual Patient Safety Week from Monday 2 - Friday 6 November.

Taranaki DHB acting CEO, Rosemary Clements said, “The quality of the care we provide to patients is our priority 52 weeks of the year; however Patient Safety Week is an opportunity to demonstrate our commitment to working in partnership with patients and whānau to provide the best and safest care possible,  every time.”

The theme for this year’s event is ‘Let’s Talk’ which focuses on the importance of communication between patients, whānau and DHB staff. “At Taranaki DHB we value good communication and engaging with our patients and their whānau, so we’ll be using this week to promote to staff, patients and whānau how to communicate effectively in a healthcare setting,” added Mrs Clements.

The hospital management team has helped spread the Patient Safety Week messages with a walk around the wards and departments. Mrs Clements said “Health care is demanding and Taranaki DHB has very competent and professional staff who work hard to provide safe, high-quality health care and to continually improve patient safety. To recognise this we want everyone to get behind and support Patient Safety week.”

“Taranaki DHB Service Improvement Advisor, Mary Bird said, “Patients have a role to play in Patient Safety Week and a range of resources have been produced to support the Let’s Talk theme. We want patients to be involved in their care, to ask questions, to be fully informed and to be given options.“

Patients and visitors have the opportunity to let Taranaki DHB know what’s important to them in their healthcare experience by filling in a ‘What’s important to me in Healthcare’ speech bubble. In doing so, they will go into the draw to win $100 Pak‘n’Save hampers. In less than two days visitors to Taranaki Base Hospital have written 234 messages which are on display at the main entrance.

All patients admitted to Base Hospital have been provided with an ‘airline style’ safety card, which gives advice on ways to stay safe in hospital. This includes exercising to prevent blood clots and talking to doctors, nurses and pharmacists about any concerns or questions they may have about new or existing medication they have been prescribed.

Throughout the week there are displays in the main entrances of Taranaki Base and Hawera Hospitals, which include Patient Safety Week information booths, life-size Patient Safety Week cut-outs and a mini cinema with complimentary popcorn where people can watch short interviews with patients about their experiences in health care and a newly-released Health Quality Safety Commission (HQSC) patient safety video.

Patient Safety Week is also an opportunity to recognise the ways in which Taranaki DHB staff go above and beyond to help others and to keep our patients safe. Staff can submit ‘staff support’ nominations to recognise those who go the extra mile to support their colleagues at work. Patients can also nominate staff as ‘star communicators’ as a way to identify ways in which staff are communicating well with patients. All nominations and nominators go into the draw to win a range of prizes.

We would like to thank the following businesses for their  generous donations to the event – Fonterra, TSB Showplace, Little Fed, Simply Blooming, Lovell’s Flowers 4 You, Quirky Fox, Pak’n’Save (New Plymouth), Gusto Restaurant, Robertson’s Pharmacy (Hawera) Peta M Homeware and Gifts (Hawera), CJ the Clown, TSH, Pak n Save (Hawera) and Rimi Sushi (Hawera).

Patient Safety Week is being held nationally and is co-ordinated by the HQSC. For information about Patient Safety Week, visit the HQSC Patient Safety Week web page.

ENDS

For more information please call

Greer Lean
Communications Advisor
027 801 9084

Last updated: Wednesday, November 4, 2015