Saudi- Expert says new steps can reduce medical errors

(MENAFN- Arab News) RIYADH: Private and governmental hospitals and medical facilities in the Kingdom have recently witnessed regular inspections which experts say are aimed at promoting the concept of quality and eventually to reduce medical errors in these facilities sources told Arab News.
Many patients have reportedly suffered from medical errors due to lack of compliance with quality standards the sources said.
Dr. Nagwa Mousa a quality consultant who has worked extensively in Saudi government hospitals says medical errors have existed in hospitals and medical facilities for a long time not only in the Kingdom but in the whole world.
This situation she said has triggered the necessity for designing a concept that helps in increasing productivity and reducing medical errors.
She said we should keep improving such concepts on a continuous basis which will have an impact in reducing medical errors and cut down expenses of medical services at the patient and facility levels.
Elaborating on the issue Dr. Mousa said it all started when WHO (World Health Organization) discovered that there were great losses of lives and resources due to the absence of quality standards.
However as soon as medical facilities applied quality standards those in charge of these facilities discovered enormous improvement in services provided to patients and hence their satisfaction she said.
Referring to a study recently conducted in the United States Dr. Mousa said handwritten prescriptions by physicians were a critical factor in increasing the chances of errors where sometimes pharmacists misread them and gave the wrong medicines or doses to patients thus exposing their lives to danger. This necessitated application of strict training and education for the staff using modern techniques like computerized orders that in the end decrease medical errors and costs she pointed out.