HHE 2018 | Page 35

spain

Mrs Sara Pupato Ferrari HOPE Governor , Ministry of Health , Social Services and Equality

Could you outline the strategy / approach adopted in your country on quality and patient safety or the two / three initiatives in the hospital and healthcare sector in the past ten years ? The Ministry of Health , Social Services and Equality ( MSSSI ) fosters and promotes the Patient Safety Strategy for the National Health System , which has been carried out since 2005 in collaboration with the Health Regions and the National Institute of Health Management ( Instituto Nacional de Gestión Sanitaria - INGESA ), integrating the contributions of the healthcare professionals and of the patients through organisations representing them .

The objectives of this strategy aimed initially at : promoting and enhancing patient safety culture in the healthcare organisations ; incorporating risk management practices ; training the professionals and patients on basic aspects of patient safety ; implementing safe practices and getting patients and citizens actively involved .

The Patient Safety Strategy has been extended for further five years ( 2015 – 2020 ) to provide an overview of what has previously been done and to facilitate decision making based on consensus . Furthermore , the strategy has been evaluated positively showing that the established collaboration with the Health Regions has worked efficiently . The contributions of the professionals and their organisations turned out to be crucial and the scientific societies have played a key role . Finally , the patients and their representatives contributed to patient empowerment .

The update presented herein incorporates the strategic actions set out , including the international recommendations and the achievements and objectives defined on the base of available evidence . The team that contributed to shape the strategy is composed of scientific and technical coordinators and the institutional technical committee of the Health Regions .

Could you present us the two / three expectations that your organisation / country have today on improving the quality of healthcare using the experiences and competencies of patients ?

Spanish Network of Health Schools for Citizens This network provides patients , family members and care-givers with a source of information and training services , giving them access to the best scientific evidence available . It is based on the contributions of various schools and projects within the National Health Service ( Escuela Andaluza de Pacientes , Escuela Cántabra de Salud , Escuela Gallega de Salud para Ciudadanos , Programa Paciente Expert Catalunya , Programa Paziente Bizia Osakidetza ) along with the Citizen Training Network of the National Health System , the Ministry and the Foundation of Health and Ageing of Autonomous University of Barcelona ( Fundacio Salui i Envelliment – Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona – UAB ). It also receives contributions from patient and professional associations .

Patient as auditor The European Council and the WHO World Alliance for Patient Safety stress the importance of the engagement of patients and their relatives in the improvement of healthcare safety . Many initiatives have been studied to support patient engagement and to face this challenge . Nevertheless , the role of patient as auditor of safety practices remains almost unexplored . It consists of voluntarily and anonymously tracking clinical practices .

Some of the suitable practices in which to engage the patient as auditor are those that require an external observer ( hand hygiene , patient identification , transfusion , chemotherapy administration , etc .). The adherence to those safety practices cannot be measured by analysing data gathered through the information system . For example , it is possible to detect a wound infection but not if the healthcare professional washed his / her hands before or after the contact with the patient .

The role of patient as auditor does not imply that he / she has to take an active role reminding the healthcare professional to follow a safety practice ( for example , the patient reminding the nurse or doctor to wash their hands if they did not ). It requires the patient to assess if the professional follows the procedures in normal conditions .

To explore the feasibility and validity of patient participation as partner in the audit of safe practices , the Navarra Complex Hospital

In Spain , the Patient Safety Strategy has been extended for further five years ( 2015 – 2020 ) to provide an overview of what has previously been done and to facilitate decision making based on consensus spain

35 HHE 2018 | hospitalhealthcare . com