Implement systemic reforms to reduce diagnostic errors — Healthcare experts
A Quality and Patient Safety Consultant, Dr Elom Hillary Otchi, has urged healthcare professionals to tackle the systemic challenges in the healthcare system that lead to misdiagnosis and diagnostic errors.
Advertisement
He also proposed strategies to enhance patient safety and improvement in the quality of care.
He explained that several instances of system failures included incompatible blood transfusions, incorrect genotype identifications and unnecessary surgical procedures.
Dr Otchi stressed that such mistakes stemmed from flawed systems other than individual negligence, and therefore criticised the tendency to blame individuals for errors instead of addressing the underlying issues within the system.
He further stated the importance of learning from diagnostic errors by conducting mortality audits, autopsies, patient reports and case reviews.
These, he said, were vital for improving patient safety and care.
Dr Otchi made these remarks during this year's celebration of World Patient Safety Day and Quality Improvement Day held at the Greater Accra Regional Hospital yesterday
The event, organised in collaboration with Ridge Hospital and the Ghana Health Service, was on the theme:, "Improving Diagnosis for Patient Safety."
Diagnostic error
Dr Otchi said, “diagnostic errors could occur in every health facility” and were particularly “very high risk, mostly in our emergencies and other care areas” due to the large volume of cases handled.
Participants in the event
He argued that the practice of “looking for who was on duty to blame” was counterproductive and often led to “lambasting and saying all manner of things,” rather than focusing on identifying and implementing solutions.
Dr Otchi emphasised the importance of interprofessional teamwork, accreditation of diagnostic facilities, and the need for more research to understand the specific burden of diagnostic errors in the local context, rather than relying solely on data from other regions.
He said the goal was to improve safety and the quality of healthcare delivery through a systemic, collaborative and evidence-based approach.
Care
The Medical Director at Ridge Hospital, Dr Ralph Armah, noted that patients were becoming increasingly aware of their rights, roles and responsibilities regarding the care they received.
“It is not only an issue related to percentages, but individual doctors and practitioners are being scrutinised by patients as they become more informed about their rights and their roles in the care they receive,” he stated.
Dr Armah stressed that whatever healthcare practitioners did was closely observed and assessed by the patient.
He, therefore, highlighted the importance of healthcare providers being conscious that patients were becoming more informed and engaged in their own health status.