World Patient Safety Day is commemorated globally today (Sept 17, 2020) with the theme Health Worker Safety: A Priority For Patient Safety.
The World Health Organization (WHO) stated that: “The Covid-19 pandemic is presently among the biggest challenges and threats to face the world and humanity, and healthcare is living its greatest crisis in patient safety ever!
The pandemic has exerted unprecedented pressure on health systems worldwide. Health systems can only function with health workers, and a knowledgeable, skilled and motivated health workforce is critical for the provision of safe care to patients.
The objectives of this year’s (2020) World Patient Safety Day, which is the second one to be observed after the inaugural Day last year (2019), are to:
- Raise global awareness about the importance of health worker safety and its interlinkages with patient safety.
- Engage multiple stakeholders and adopt multimodal strategies to improve the safety of health workers and patients.
- Implement urgent and sustainable actions by all stakeholders that recognize and invest in the safety of health workers as a priority for patient safety.
- Provide due recognition of health workers’ dedication and hard work, particularly amid the current fight against Covid-19.
In urging all stakeholders to speak up, WHO stated: “The Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted the huge challenges health workers are currently facing globally.
“Working in stressful environments exacerbates safety risks for health workers, including being infected and contributing to outbreaks in the healthcare facility; having limited access or adherence to personal protective equipment (PPE) and other infection prevention and control measures; and inducing errors, which can potentially harm patients and health workers.”
At Life Action Plus HMO, we use this opportunity to appreciate the silent heroes keeping guard on our health and serving our esteemed enrollees with selflessness and uttermost dedication to service.
We will continue to work with our network of partners to improve the working conditions of healthcare workers so that they can continue to deliver qualitative healthcare in safe environments.