By Francois Jaulin and Frédéric Martin (co founders Patient Safety Database and SafeTeam Academy)
In 2016, authors reported that medical errors were the third leading cause of death in the United States and among the top ten causes of death in the World.
Most medical errors could have been prevented by an appropriate teamwork and culture of safety. This situation awareness wasn’t shared among the caregivers community. So, we decided to create a reporting system dedicated to healthcare workers.
The first issue was focused on hazardous events and incidents in the operating theatre. The main goals were to analyse and share experiences to enhance the safe culture. We’ve published approximately 150 reports with seventeen quarterly issues. We asked for successes and great achievements but the major flow was driven by incidents, mistakes and the huge amount of contributing factors. This process was interesting but many colleagues were still reluctant to report their own mistakes and at-risk behaviours. The journey was going to be long and difficult!
Then the health crisis caused by the COVID 19 pandemic reared up. It currently mobilizes all players in the health system and beyond. It has led many care workers to work outside their “comfort zone”, often in reconstituted teams and in unusual environments. This pandemic has undoubtedly strengthened exchanges between care workers and administrative staff, gathered around a common objective: to treat a massive and prolonged flow of critical patients despite a suboptimal environment and above all to treat. To address the complexity of these new activities, many players have made innovative proposals and multiple solutions have emerged in a short space of time. The healthcare community at large has demonstrated a resilience and creativity that is unprecedented in material, technological but also organizational terms. Although the mission is complex, this situation forces us to keep it simple and seek pragmatic solutions.
This organisational adaptation has led to a rethink of certain procedures and identify what is necessary and sufficient – no more no less – which has inevitably led to a salutary review: what is the objective and what is the general philosophy of our health system?
Time has come to underline the essence of sharing experience which is keeping track and creating a link between the various activities of health institutions, managers and front line staff in particular.
For more info visit: http://www.patientsafetydatabase.com/