Incident reporting system in more hospitals soon

DUBAI — A newly implemented incident reporting system in government hospitals will help reduce the waiting time for patients by filling ‘gaps’ and taking steps to improve the quality of service, according to a health official.

by

Asma Ali Zain

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Published: Tue 13 Sep 2011, 10:38 PM

Last updated: Tue 7 Apr 2015, 10:54 AM

The incident reporting system for emergency departments is expected to cover 90 per cent of the government hospitals in the Northern Emirates by the year end, according to a report prepared by the Health Ministry.

“For example, we do not have a system that shows a patient’s waiting time,” said Dr Wafa Jaber Al Rahma, Assistant Director of Total Quality and Healthcare Accreditation at the ministry. She explained that the patient’s waiting time had been identified as a ‘gap’ in the quality of service alongside many other factors. “We want to improve on this,” she said.

“Currently, there is no documentation of such kind done at hospitals,” she added. Recently, the ministry held a workshop to introduce the new system in six hospitals in Ras Al Khaimah, Sharjah, Umm Al Quwwain, Fujairah and Khalifa Hospital in Ajman.

Highlighting benefits of the reporting system for accident cases at emergency sections in hospitals, Dr Wafa said the system provides a database of accidents and errors in the institutional system.

“It is a tool to identify the weak points within hospitals and have them corrected,” she said.

She also said that the system would document references to incidents and potentially benefit from the past experience to deal with the future accidents.

The incident reporting system is a result of the accreditation standards that the ministry had, earlier this year, started implementing in hospitals to improve the state of services and medical practices in its health facilities.

In the third quarter of the year, the system will be applied in two hospitals, including Al Qasimi Hospital in Sharjah and Shaikh Khalifa bin Zayed Hospital in Ajman. “In the fourth quarter, the system will be applied in two more hospitals in Umm Al Quwain and Fujairah.”

asmaalizain@khaleejtimes.com


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