Patient Safety Industry News

Like all marketers, those in the healthcare industry faced a host of challenges in 2020. No one wants to bring the term “unprecedented” back, but it’s an accurate description for the situation marketing teams across the globe found themselves in as a business slowed and budgets were cut. Take physical events as an example. Traditionally, marketing teams have set aside at least a quarter of their entire budget for exhibitions. As borders closed and travel ground to a halt, new tactics were needed as this major marketing strategy could no longer come into play.

Patient Safety, organised by Informa Markets, is the only congress in the region that integrates multiple disciplines relating to patient safety, healthcare epidemiology, public health, risk management and infection control and prevention. Running virtually, the theme of the event is ‘Embracing the new normal – repositioning patient safety in the era of COVID-19’. The event aims to connect healthcare leaders and practitioners worldwide while sharing best practice and driving patient safety in the new normal.

Interview with Prof. David Nash, founding dean emeritus of the Jefferson College of Population Health (JCPH) of Thomas Jefferson University and the Dr Raymond C. and Doris N. Grandon Professor of Health Policy, Philadelphia, U.S.

Keeping patients safe is intrinsic to the work of healthcare professionals. It is at the core of all we strive to achieve, but unfortunately, modern medicine still sometimes falls short. There are identified gaps in the way patient information is recorded, with fragmented and “siloed” information. But thankfully, as technology plays an ever-increasing role in healthcare, it is helping to keep our patients safe.

At the upcoming virtual Patient Safety event, Geraldine McNulty MSc, Decontamination Lead/Medical Device & ISO 13485:2016 Hospital Representative, Kings College Hospital, Dubai Hills, Dubai, will be presenting a step-by-step guide that will give a better insight into how to achieve ISO 13485:2016 in a Clinical Sterile Services Department (CSSD) hospital setting.

At Patient Safety, Damien Berg, Past President, International Association of Healthcare Central Service Materiel Management (IAHCSMM); Regional Manager Sterile Processing, UCHealth, Colorado, U.S. will discuss his unconventional sterile processing journey – from a sterile processing tech in the military in the early 2000s, to a past president of IAHCSMM, a member of ISO, and an international speaker and traveller, who continues to be an operational manager.

While we continue to manage through the COVID-19 pandemic, it is important to reflect on the lessons learned. The response to COVID-19 has shown us that organisations with a commitment to- and competence in- quality, patient safety and accreditation are better prepared to effectively manage through a crisis. Published reports from around the globe continue to demonstrate the value of quality, safety and accreditation, providing a framework to guide healthcare facilities as they recover and rebuild. This pandemic should be a catalyst for innovation, to move into the next generation of quality and safety.