Taranaki DHB promotes transparency and learning from adverse events

10 November 2016

The Health, Quality & Safety Commission (HQSC) has released the 2015/2016 ‘Learning from Adverse Events’ report today which has a greater emphasis on learning from all serious adverse events. 

Dr Greg Simmons, Taranaki DHB Chief Medical Advisor said, “Everyone comes to work to do a good job, but sometimes, despite our best efforts, things do go wrong which is upsetting for everyone involved. The adverse event reporting process is about learning from our experiences and identifying system issues rather than finding an individual to blame.”

This year’s report includes details of seven reported adverse events for Taranaki DHB but the names of patients, family/whanau and the individual clinicians involved remain anonymous. The adverse events concern falls, a cancelled appointment, treatment, allergy and a delay in diagnosis.  

Dr Simmons said, “Our adverse events are down markedly from last year, which by in large can be attributed to less falls.  Even so, one adverse event is one too many and  we know the consequences can be tragic, for patients and their family/whanau and also for the staff caring for them.”

“Taranaki DHB is a strong advocate of the adverse event reporting process and our staff are supported to recognise, report and participate in the review of adverse events,” added Dr Simmons.

“While it can be challenging and difficult for those involved, disclosure is a professional and legal obligation and is an important part of patient centred care. It also reflects our open culture of reporting and transparency so that we can learn from what went wrong and put systems in place to make care even safer,” he said.

Gill Campbell, Taranaki DHB COO said, “Health care is demanding and Taranaki DHB staff do an excellent job at providing very competent and professional care to improve the health of our patients. Over the past year 29,780 people have been admitted and cared for at Taranaki Base and Hawera hospitals and the vast majority are treated without incident.”

Patient safety is of the utmost importance for Taranaki DHB and this is highlighted each year with the annual Patient Safety Week, which was celebrated last week.

Anne Kemp, GM Quality & Risk said, “This event assists in the prevention of adverse events by highlighting healthcare practices, education opportunities and resources that maintain and improve the safety of patients in our care. The 2016 event was again a great success with plenty of support from staff throughout Taranaki DHB.”

ENDS

For more information please contact: Cressida Gates-Thompson, Communications Manager, 027 703 6177

Health Quality & Safety Commission:
Click here for the Health Quality & Safety Commission 'Learning from adverse events' (PDF 1MB)
Click here for Question and Answers - Learning from Adverse Events 2015/16 (PDF 83 KB)

Taranaki DHB:
Click here for Taranaki DHB Adverse Events results for 2015/16 (PDF 71 KB)

Last updated: Thursday, November 10, 2016