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Margaret Morris with Health Secretary Alan Johnson during his visit to Salford Royal Hospital
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Hospital sets sights on being safest in the NHS
Sam Kirby10/ 4/2008
SALFORD Royal Hospital has set its sights on becoming the safest hospital in the NHS in a bid to save 1,000 lives over the next three years.
In the first project of its kind within the NHS, bosses and staff at the hospital hope to reduce fatalities by cutting infection rates, improving treatments and improving the hospital environment, in an initiative that will cost £1m and was launched by Health Secretary Alan Johnson last week.
Salford Royal is already one of the safest hospitals in the country.
Official statistics show that while there were 1,358 deaths predicted for 2007, only 1,151 occurred, with Salford Royal saving 207 lives, a 17 per cent improvement since 2006.
Furthermore, rates of the superbug C difficile have been cut by 60 per cent on eight wards used by the elderly.
Hospital chief executive David Dalton said: "Despite the extraordinary hard work and best intentions of hospital staff, patients are harmed in hospitals every day. Fortunately, catastrophic events are rare but we must acknowledge that, unintentionally, a significant number of our patients experience some harm.
"Hospital-acquired infections, bad reactions to drugs, surgical errors, pressure sores and other complications are commonplace."
Each month, an estimated 850 patients experience an error at the hospital which can range from a minor delay to a serious injury or death, at a rate of 38 harms per 1,000 occupied bed days.
In comparison, American hospitals average between 40 to 60 harms per 1,000 occupied bed days.
Research for the three-year plan also shows only about 20 per cent of errors made in healthcare are reported and 90 per cent of those are ‘near misses’ where the patient does not experience harm.
However, the £1m initiative will provide staff with time and cash to introduce and test improvements on their wards, with the aim of reducing these errors by half over the next three years.
The plan incorporates working harder to offer reliable care on a number of issues including heart failure, pneumonia, hip replacement and stroke patients.
The hospital also plans to improve both its record on hospital acquired infections and the overall hospital environment improving bathrooms, toilets and entrances and creating more single rooms.
Health Secretary Alan Johnson said: "This hospital is one of the best, it’s rated as excellent by the independent Healthcare Commission in all aspects.
"I’m not doing this, it’s the local staff and clinicians who have said we want to be world class in everything we do and they’ve looked at a number of different processes of how they can improve quality further.
"As far as hospital acquired infections are concerned it’s a problem throughout the world and we are no different to any other country."
Got an opinion you want to share?Should less emphasis be placed on the results of tests and more emphasis on general education for children?
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