Hospital Authority announces independent review panel on Sentinel and Serious Untoward Event Policy
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The Hospital Authority (HA) announced yesterday (May 10) that it would establish an independent review panel to conduct a comprehensive review on the current Sentinel and Serious Untoward Event Policy in response to the recent incident in United Christian Hospital.
The HA Chairman, Professor John Leong, today (May 11) announced the composition and the terms of reference of the independent review panel. "I concurred that it is an opportune time to conduct a comprehensive review on the Policy implemented 10 years ago, as the HA has always strived to be an open and accountable organisation," he said.
For its terms of reference, the panel will undertake the following tasks, with a view to submitting its report to the HA Board in eight weeks' time:
- To review the definition and scope of Sentinel and Serious Untoward Events in relation to clinical incidents with international benchmarking;
- To review the Sentinel and Serious Untoward Event reporting mechanism;
- To review the mechanism of open disclosure and public disclosure; and
- To make recommendations for follow-up actions as appropriate.
Membership of the panel includes Professor Maurice Yap (Chairman), Mr Ricky Fung and the HA Deputising Director (Quality & Safety) Dr Liu Shao-haei.
Professor Maurice Yap is the Dean of the Faculty of Health and Social Sciences of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. He has been serving as an HA Board Member since 2011 and is currently Chairman of the Medical Services Development Committee.
Mr Ricky Fung served on the HA Board between 2010 and 2016 and chaired the Public Complaints Committee from 2011 to 2016. He is currently a member of the Hospital Governing Committee of Grantham Hospital.
Professor Leong noted that the HA Sentinel Event policy was first established in 2007 and was subsequently enhanced in 2010 for wider coverage to include Serious Untoward Events in the clinical settings. "I look forward to the further enhancement and compliance of the Policy, in particular on the timeliness of open and public disclosure," he said.
Ends/Thursday, May 11, 2017
Issued at HKT 19:08
Issued at HKT 19:08
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