JavaScript is off. Please enable to view full site.

National patient safety council should be set up: ex-official

National patient safety council should be set up: ex-official

Tuesday, December 03, 2013, 15:53 GMT+7

A national patient safety council should be set up to help reduce medical accidents nationwide, a former health official suggested.     

Pham Duc Muc, former deputy head of the Medical Examination and Treatment Department under the Ministry of Health, told Tuoi Tre that such a council will help improve safety for patients and prevent medical accidents during treatment.

Many countries including the US, the UK and Australia have established such a council.  In Asia, Malaysia has set up one, Muc said.

Considering patient safety as a public health issue, these countries publicize the number of medical malpractice cases at each hospital, and suggest measures to improve treatment quality and to reduce such cases year after year.  According to international statistics, 30 percent of medical accidents directly resulted from malpractice of the medical service providers. In the US, nosocomial infections account for 5 percent of total infections, affecting about 1.7 million people per year. The infection causes the hospitalization period of patients to be 17.5 days longer, thereby increasing medical treatment cost. Muc also answered some questions from Tuoi Tre.Q: Upon establishment, what will the national council for patient safety do to help reduce medical accidents?   The Council will help the heath sector to make a list of medical accidents which all hospitals must report to the Ministry of Health when such accidents occur. At the same time, the Council will help build a process to deal with such accidents. Through the council, the health sector will have statistics of medical accidents and patients involved per year.Q: What kind of unsafe condition often occurs at hospitals? This is in injections. A safe injection is required to meet as many as 14 criteria. If any of these criteria is violated, then the injection is seen as unsafe.

Tuoitrenews

More

Read more

;

Photos

VIDEOS

‘Taste of Australia’ gala dinner held in Ho Chi Minh City after 2-year hiatus

Taste of Australia Gala Reception has returned to the Park Hyatt Hotel in Ho Chi Minh City's District 1 after a two-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic

Vietnamese woman gives unconditional love to hundreds of adopted children

Despite her own immense hardship, she has taken in and cared for hundreds of orphans over the past three decades.

Vietnam’s Mekong Delta celebrates spring with ‘hat boi’ performances

The art form is so popular that it attracts people from all ages in the Mekong Delta

Vietnamese youngster travels back in time with clay miniatures

Each work is a scene caught by Dung and kept in his memories through his journeys across Vietnam

Latest news