It is estimated that in the European Union between eight and 12 per cent of patients admitted to hospital suffer from a healthcare associated adverse effect, that is, they incur harm due to the care they have undertaken. What is worrying is that a number of these are preventable. This has led the European Commission to adopt a Communication and proposal for a Council Recommendation for member States on what action can be taken to improve patient safety.

A possible definition of patient safety is “freedom for a patient from unnecessary harm or potential harm associated with healthcare”. Well although ‘patient safety’ is the new buzz phrase being circulated around healthcare institutes and even more so by bureaucrats with limited medical knowledge, it is sometimes important to remember that the phrase primum non nocere was coined by the Greek physician Hippocrates (or one of his students) way back in the 4th century BC and in fact forms an integral part of the Hippocratic Oath taken by a large number of newly graduated medical doctors across the globe.

Among the most common adverse effects we find infections, delayed or incorrect diagnosis, medication, and surgical related errors. Improving patient safety is a priority for most of the member States. However, the Commission Communication advises a more comprehensive approach with the primary targets being the failures within the organisation and administration that could lead to patient harm. Cost cutting and bureaucracy should not form part of healthcare. Among the key recommendations one finds:

• Sharing of information involving patient issues between member States, with the possibility of cross-border practices.

• Establishing or strengthening reporting and learning systems.

• Increasing patient safety matters in the education and training of healthcare workers.

• Involving all stakeholders, including patients, in the development of safety issues.

• Information on health risks and safety should be provided to patients.

Over the past few years quite an issue has been made over hospital acquired infections and the “super bug” MRSA. This is still a hot issue. When a person is admitted to hospital, certain problems and complications are unavoidable i.e. there is that statistical chance that a medicine has an unwanted side effect, an operation does not work or complications arise and so on. What most people expect, and rightly so, is that they do not have their medical problem complicated when they receive treatment, but rather the opposite. In fact some studies have indicated that healthcare associated infections can be reduced by up to a third if certain measures are put in place. In fact, if certain measures were implemented and these resulted in a decrease of 10 per cent of hospital-acquired infections, the costs of the measures implemented would be covered. The same principle would apply to other preventable patient issues, and this is what we should be striving for. Preventing the preventable. Here I can only commend the work done by Dr Michael Borg and his colleagues in the Infection Control Unit at Mater Dei Hospital who constantly update services to follow current guidelines. Their participation in the Antibiotic Resistance Surveillance & Control in the Mediterranean Region (ARMed) project ensures that Malta is kept abreast of the current regional changes leading to a reduction in the incidence of hospital-acquired infections and optimising their treatment when they unfortunately occur.

I do not want to sound all doom and gloom. Far from it. There has been a positive change in the local healthcare system over the past few months with a number of new ideas, both clinical and administrative, being implemented. Their aim is to have the system safer and yet more efficient. But we cannot keep on having never ending operation waiting lists, a stuttering pharmacy of your choice scheme and the persistent brain drain of healthcare personnel, just to give a few examples.

Parliamentary Secretary Dr Joe Cassar has proved to be a driving force in having forward-looking changes introduced. Let us hope the administration will give him the support he deserves and requires. As Commissioner for Health, Androulla Vassiliou, said: “Patient safety is the cornerstone of good quality healthcare. I would like to see a Europe for patients where safety is paramount and citizens are confident and knowledgeable about the care they receive.”

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