Patients Safety: Emerging Issues & Challenges

Abstract

One of the global issues that have affected both developed and developing countries in the recent past is the Patient Safety which is a new healthcare concerning for prevention of medical error that often leads to adverse healthcare events. It was not familiar till 1990s, when various countries begun to report on staggering numbers of patients who were either harmed and or killed mainly due to medical errors. The World Health Organization [WHO] has therefore described ‘Patient Safety’ as an endemic concern recognizing its impact of 1 in every 10 patients around the world. The science of patient safety has grown, and is constantly seeking to identify how and why things go wrong in patients’ care. The emphasis has moved away from blame towards looking at how modern healthcare is delivered in complex, busy hospitals and clinics, and recognizing that sometimes the systems themselves create problems. Each year the treatment and care of hundreds of millions of patients worldwide is complicated by infections acquired during healthcare. The impact of healthcare-associated infection may imply prolonged stays in hospital, long-term disability, massive additional financial burden, and deaths. This paper offers a brief factual review of healthcare sector of India supported with some real live illustrations relating to Patients’ Safety. An attempt has been made to raise diverse relevant as well as prevalent issues, and forthcoming challenges relating to the healthcare sector of India. It has become truly evident that ‘Patients’ Safety’ is rapidly emerging dimension of the healthcare sector in India and worldwide. It therefore advocates on a serious need with strategic emphasis for minimization and gradual prevention of the occurrence of medical errors either resultant into untimely death and or disabilities of patients. Keywords: Patient Safety, Patients’ Satisfaction, Healthcare Error, Health Care, Health.

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