WPSD: Nigeria Develops First Policy on Patient Safety
The Federal Government says it has developed the first ever National Policy and Implementation Strategy on Patient Safety and Care Quality.
The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health, Dr Kachollom Daju, said this in Abuja on Monday at the World Patient Safety Day 2023 press briefing.
Daju said the theme: “Engaging Patients for Patient Safety’ and the slogan ‘Elevate the Voice of Patients’ were aimed to increase public awareness and advocacy for the adoption of best practices to promote patient safety.
“The ministry has just developed the first ever National Policy and Implementation Strategy on Patient Safety and care quality.
“It was sent for stakeholders review on 14 and 15 September.
“This has been done in line with the Resolution 18 of the 55 World Health Assembly (WHA 55.18) which called for Member States to recognise the burden of patient safety and to set up policies to manage them,” she said.
Read Also:
Read Also: WHO To Nigeria: Create Platforms For Patients’ Concerns, Awareness
According to her, the event underscored the importance of patient safety in the healthcare system.
Daju said that the policy focuses on improving patient and family engagement in health care, medication safety, surgical safety, Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) and safety of all medical procedures.
“It is my hope that health facilities at all levels will adopt and implement this policy,” she said.
Daju said that patient safety, fundamentally entails preventing errors and minimising harm to patients during provision of healthcare services.
She said that the errors could come from surgical mishaps, medication errors, or diagnostic inaccuracies, saying however that safeguarding patients is of utmost importance.
She said that under the banner “elevate the voice of patients!”, the World Health Organisation called upon all stakeholders to take the necessary steps to ensure that patients are not just passive recipients of healthcare but active participants.
