PATIENT SAFETY GOALS, AFRICA: DEVELOPMENT OF A CONTEXT FITTING TOOL FOR PATIENT SAFETY AND CARE QUALITY ASSESSMENT IN AFRICA USING THE DECIDE(HUMAN FACTORS) MODEL.

Abstract

Patient safety practice refers to processes or structures which when applied, reduce the probability of adverse events resulting from exposure to the healthcare system across a range of diseases and procedures. It aims at making health care safer for both clients and staff (Kohn, Corrigan, & Donaldson, 2000). It is “A framework of organized activities that createcultures, processes, procedures, behaviours, technologies and environments in health care that consistently and sustainably lower risks, reduce the occurrence of avoidable harm, make errors less likely and reduce the impact of harm when it does occur.” (WHO, 2021). Quality of care is “the degree to which health services for individuals and populations increase the likelihood of desired health outcomes and are consistent with current professional knowledge” (IOM, 1990 and ahrq.gov., 2016). Healthcare quality is a level or value provided by any healthcare resource, as determined by some measurement (Maxwell, 1984).As with quality in other fields, it is an assessment of whether something is good enough and whether it is suitable for its purpose. Other definitions of healthcare quality include: “the degree of conformity with accepted principles and practices (standards), the degree of satisfying the patient’s needs, and the degree of attainment of acceptable outcomes, while making appropriate use of resources.” The Joint Commission defines care quality as “the optimal achievement of therapeutic benefit and avoidance of risk and minimization of harm”. Care quality is also referred to as freedom from deficiencies and therefore less costly because deficiencies which often lead to customer dissatisfaction require additional costs to manage them. Quality care conforms to relevant requirements or standards - the needs and expectations of clients or patients.