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The following is issued on behalf of the Hospital Authority:
The 21st issue of "HA Risk Alert" was published today (April 29) by the Hospital Authority (HA) as a risk management and communication initiative to further strengthen the reporting and monitoring of adverse incidents in public hospitals.
In the foreword to the latest issue, Hong Kong West Cluster Chief Executive Dr Luk Che-chung says that it is unrealistic to eliminate risks. "Mitigating risks could easily become an administrative evil and lose support from staff if containment measures are overwhelming and excessive."
Dr Luk drew the analogy that "treatment ought to be given within therapeutic and not toxic doses" to show that the essence of risk management is about exercising control in moderation.
This issue describes six cases of retained instruments and consumables, seven cases of patient suicide and a case of maternal death. Subsequent to in-depth investigation and root-cause analyses of the incidents, recommendations are made and shared in this publication to avoid similar events in future.
In addition, to support hospitals in preventing patient suicide, the risk management strategy and programme of Hong Kong East Cluster in suicide prevention is featured in this issue for experience sharing.
The publication also presented the statistical analysis of the Sentinel and Serious Untoward Events reported in the fourth quarter of 2010 and the top reported incidents of the Advanced Incident Reporting System in the last two quarters of 2010.
The publication has been distributed to all healthcare professionals in public hospitals for continuous quality improvement. It can also be accessed by the public at www.ha.org.hk/riskalert .
Starting from this issue, "HA Risk Alert" is published on a quarterly basis and posted on the HA website every last working Friday in the months of January, April, July and October. The next issue will be published on July 29, 2011.
Ends/Friday, April 29, 2011
Issued at HKT 16:46
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