Safer care through better handover

Working differently for better, safer care.

E rrors pervade all health systems. Health care in the United States may cost more, have more resources, and be more customer friendly than that delivered by the United Kingdom National Health Service (NHS), but the epidemiology of errors is probably much the same. 2 Even the French system, recently declared the ‘‘best’’ in the world, has during this summer’s soaring temperatures publicly faile...

Better hand hygiene means safer care.

Editorial The 1st World Health Organization (WHO) Global Patient Safety Challenge, " Clean Care is Safer Care " , was launched in October 2005. Since then, Prof Didier Pittet, the External Programme Lead reported that 131 WHO Member States and autonomous areas have pledged their support. As of May 2013, over 15,700 healthcare facilities with more than 9 million healthcare workers (HCWs), and mo...

Handover : Faster and safer ?

Objective This study aimed to introduce bedside handover to three rural South Australian hospitals. Design A mixed‐method, pre‐test post‐test evaluative approach involving quantitative (quasi‐experimental) and qualitative (ethnographic) elements was used. Setting This study was set in three acute hospital wards. Subjects The sample comprised forty‐eight self‐selected enrolled/registered nursing...

Designing safer health care through responsive regulation.

Self-regulation by the health professions, while improving, is no longer enough; external drivers for safer health care include governments, funders and consumers. Enforced self-regulation is often more promising than a "command and control" strategy. Research evidence on the responsive regulatory pyramid and its options offers lessons for health care policy makers and managers. Start at the ba...

Better Teams, Safer Patients