Getting past denial in Victoria

You have to be willing to acknowlege your problems before you can remedy them.  If I were to characterize the state of public and private hospital care in the state of Victoria, Australia, I'd have to say that this first step is lacking.  Both the public and private hospital systems and the goverment regulators who oversee them are in a state of denial with regard to the level of harm being caused to the public by inadequate attention to quality and safety deficiencies. The health system as a whole, also, is characterized by an uwillingness to engage patients and families in the appraisal and improvement of care.The question is when and if the body politic and hospital governing bodies and clinical and administrative leaders will overcome their denial of the extent of the problem.On the public side of the hospital system, the Victoria Auditor-General is about to issue an important report on patient safety in Victoria hospitals, described as follows:Clinical incidents in healthcare settings cause, or have the potential to cause, unexpected harm to patients. They include falls, pressure sores and medication errors and may result in near misses, adverse events where harm has occurred or sentinel events resulting in serious harm or death. It has been estimated that around one in 10 hospitalised patients suffers preventable harm and an adverse event related to care. The number of near misses, the accuracy of reporting of patient safety incidents, and the effectiveness of...
Source: Not running a hospital - Category: Hospital Management Source Type: blogs