Patient safety
Patient safety is a state where the patient gets the treatment he/she needs at the right time and with as little foreseeable harm and discomfort as possible.
Patient safety is at the centre of quality of care and it covers treatment safety, drug safety and medical device safety.
Our hospitals are run by health care professionals on whose responsibility it is to provide you with good and safe treatment. Treatment plans are made by the personnel in collaboration with yourself. Treatment is based on scientific knowledge.
Safeguard your patient safety
- Necessary information: The people who attend to your health must know as much as needed about your symptoms and illnesses and they must have updated contact information. Inform the personnel if there have been changes in this information.
- Check that you are identified: Remind the personnel upfront if they forget to ask for your identification in situations like before treatment, before an examination, before blood or tissue sampling and before giving you medicines.
- Make notes: Make notes of what you’d like to ask or tell the personnel. Aske the personnel for written information so that you won’t need to memorize things.
- Just ask: Ask if there are also other ways to treat your condition and ask how your treatment is working. Be sure that you understood everything right.
- Medication: Always have an updated medicine list with you and ask for one when you are discharged from the hospital. Follow the prescriptions.
- Following instructions: Follow the instructions of the health care personnel. If it’s difficult to do so, please tell the personnel.
- Participation: You are free to participate in your treatment planning and in decisions concerning your treatment. Provide the personnel with feedback on how you perceive your care.
- Symptoms: Tell the personnel if you have pain or other disease-related symptoms.
- Family and friends: If you want, a family member or a friend may participate in your treatment.
- Any questions?: If anything bothers you or if you have something on your mind, ask the personnel straight away. You are free to contact the unit where you have been treated also after you have been discharged.
Information on patient safety from the Hospital District of Southwest Finland
Reporting safety incidents constitutes an important part of the assessment and development of the activities of the Hospital District of Southwest Finland.
The Global Trigger Tool (GTT) is a tool for analyzing patient records retrospectively in a structured way. The GTT uses randomized samples of patient records covering treatment periods. The purpose of analyzing patient records is to identify adverse events that occur among adult patients treated for somatic conditions. The Hospital District of Southwest Finland was the first hospital district in Finland to start adverse event assessment. This took place in 2009.
The WHO Surgical Check List is in use at all surgical units of the hospital district. Other check lists have also been adopted (e.g., the ISBAR list to guarantee communication on patient reporting).
The TUKU enquiry (short for turvallisuuskulttuuri = safety culture) is a tool to assess the patient safety culture within an organization. The state and development of patient safety is followed up at regular intervals. The Hospital District of Southwest Finland has made this assessment five times since 2009.
Each new employee must pass the web-based course "Potilasturvallisuutta taidolla" (Proficient patient safety), which is part of the patient safety introductory program.