Patients, their families need to be involved for safe healthcare delivery in Pakistan: experts

ISLAMABAD: Around 2.6 million patients annually die due to patient safety issues every year in low- and middle-income countries while an estimated 134 million healthcare-associated adverse events occur annually in hospitals, national and international experts Wednesday said and called for involving patients and their families for better and safe healthcare delivery in Pakistan.

Speaking at the First Technical Working Group (TWG) meeting on the development of the “National Framework on Patient Safety and Quality of Care” and National Standards Quality Healthcare and Patient Safety, they said the concept of patient safety is as old as medicine itself, with Hippocrates’ dictum, ‘First, do no harm’.

There is, however, there is still a huge burden of harm in health care, affecting millions of people every year, experts said adding that in fact, unsafe care has become one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality globally, claiming at least lives of five patients every minute. In terms of morbidity, one in 10 patients is harmed by safety lapses during hospital care in high-income countries. Patient safety failures are among the 10 leading causes of death and disability in the world, they added.

In his inaugural remarks Dr Palitha Mahipala, WHO’s representative in Pakistan emphasized that to transform patient safety, we must embrace a culture of safety where we report openly, learn from our mistakes, and continually improve our systems. “This year’s theme of World Patient Safety Day 2023 is “Engaging Patients For Patient Safety”. This highlights the central role that patients, their families, and caregivers play in advancing safe care. Dr Mahipala said evidence shows that when patients are treated as partners in their care, significant gains are made in safety, patient satisfaction, and health outcomes.”

Dr Baseer Achakzai, Director General Health, MoNHSR&C, called for investing in patient safety as a commitment to Universal Health Coverage and Health Security and we have to strengthen the systems for reporting and learning from medical errors. “That means clear policies and an open culture that allows people to report adverse events, without fear of retribution. We also need to strengthen the capacities of the health workforce, so every health worker knows the best practices for keeping patients and themselves safe”, he added. “This is the time to act quickly to build a culture of safe care,” Dr Baseer Achakzai said and appreciated the provincial health departments for their commitment to the patient safety journey and to take this agenda forward to ensure the provision of safe care.

Other experts said in Pakistan, unfortunately, reliable data on patient safety is not available. A small research study on General Practice of Patient Safety & adverse events conducted in 2021 in five sample hospitals found that diagnostic errors comprise 40 percent, while surgical procedure-related errors 32percent, complications of childbirth 15 percent, adverse medication-related events 9 percent, and healthcare-associated infection 4percent of all adverse events. These results are the tip of the iceberg, they said adding that there is a dire need to develop a system for recording and reporting to generate reliable data in Pakistan.

In this spirit, the development of the National Framework on Patient Safety & Quality will help to mitigate the challenges and build a culture of patient safety in Pakistan, they added. The event was jointly organized by the Ministry of National Health Services Regulations and Coordination in collaboration with the WHO country office in Pakistan and it was attended by participants from provincial health departments, Healthcare Commissions, Directors of Quality & Patient Safety Departments, academia, Drug Regulatory Authority Pakistan, Pakistan Medical and Dental Council, Pakistan Nursing Council, College of Physician Surgeon Pakistan and private sector health facilities.