Health Management Hospital Inquiries

Questions: 1. What was the background to the quality problems at these hospitals? 2. What were the key quality and patient safety issues? 3. What were the conclusions and recommendations of the Inquiry? 4. What lessons can be learned for future management of patient care from the quality and safety perspectives? 5. Could this occur again in another Australian hospital? Why, or why not? 6. Incorporation of health information/medical records related aspects where relevant? Answer: 1. The background of the quality problems in major Australian hospitals highlights unequal distribution of resources, lack of regulation in medical practices, inequalities in intra-institutional structures and lowered patient safety (Faunce and Bolsin 2004). 2. The key quality and patient safety issues include lack of procedural fairness and inadequate process, lack of systems review, lack of clinical resources, lack or monitoring and supervision, lack of investigation and many other system issues (Dunbar et al. 2007). Other issues include unsuitable culture and behavior of others professional team, reduced positive feedback regarding quality, failure in management and reviewing reports, insufficient quality and safety system resourcing. 3. HCCC inquiry revealed noteworthy deficits in the care standard in the highlighted hospitals. After the completion of the inquiries, some common themes emerged, which include loss of trust from patients and the community, loss of trust in management and within clinical colleagues (Eagar 2004). IT has also been revealed that there are not enough clinical assets and clinicians in the public sectors for meeting community prospects and to deliver standard quality of care. 4. From these articles, it has been revealed that systematic monitoring and evaluation of all the health care facilities provided by the organizations, is very important for ensuring patient safety. Policies should stress on the professional duties of staffs to report all of their concerns regarding risky behavior of their colleagues. 5. Yes, these kinds of incidents can happen again, if government do not take strict action against these kinds of regulation and patient safety issues. In spite of rebuilding trust, health care staffs would not report if they do mistakes regarding patient safety, which is difficult to provide. 6. One common problem in health care is medication error or miscommunication due to manual handling of patient data. In this context, e-health record can be a significant way to improve patient safety (Dunbar et al. 2007). Reference List Dunbar, J.A., Reddy, P., Beresford, B., Ramsay, W.P. and Lord, R.S.A. 2007. In the wake of hospital inquiries: impact on staff and safety. Medical Journal of Australia 186(2): 80-83. Eagar, K. 2004. The weakest link? Australian Health Review 28(1): 7-12. Faunce, T.A., and Bolsin, S.N.C. 2004. Three Australian whistleblowing sagas: lessons for internal and external regulation. Medical Journal of Australia 181(1): 44-47.