Port Shepstone Regional Hospital recently observed World Patient Safety Awareness Day which is celebrated annually on September 17.
The hospital’s public relations officer, Phumza Morai said the event was aimed at giving health facilities an opportunity to discuss and encourage staff to provide safe patient care.
Morai said recognising the importance of patient safety regulations in health facilities, the hospital’s nurses, led by the Chief Executive Officer, Bawinile Ndlovu, deputy nursing manager, Mandisa Maqutu, Ugu health district programme managers, Ugu Hospital deputy nursing managers, and Shamla Pillay – representing the provincial director of nursing; demonstrated their commitment to patient safety by staging a parade led by the hospital’s nursing drum majorettes.
She added that the procession was followed by an information exchange session, which was held in the hospital’s Indaba Room.
Deputy nursing manager, Maqutu pointed out that patient safety is one of the priority areas in norms and standards, saying that it must be demonstrated by workers at all levels during the health care processes.
Meanwhile, Morai said as part of the celebrations, nurses from various categories presented their quality improvement plans on various topics related to patient safety.
“The entire event proceeded as a teaching and learning opportunity, showing standardised ways in which staff can bridge patient safety gaps for better patient care. The nursing staff came up with system-wide solutions to address and improve patient safety. The event was concluded on a high note with all employees citing their personal safety commitment on actions they will take or do everyday to ensure that they deliver care on a safety basis. Improving patient safety requires that everyone be aware of the safety errors throughout the healthcare process, hence we encourage all hospital users to take advantage of this and report all issues that are compromising their safety while in the hospital,” said Morai.
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