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Patient safety is a serious global public health issue. Millions of patients worldwide
are suffering with disabilities, injuries or death due to unsafe health care.
Most of these unsafe health care practices (eg. hospital-acquired infection, medication
errors, injury due to negligence, misdiagnosis etc.) are preventable. Reducing
the incidence of patient harm is a concern of every health care professional
and there is much to be learned and shared about patient safety.
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Recognising this need, The Trained Nurses Association of India and Indian
Confederation of Health Care Accreditation nominated Mrs Nanthini Subbiah,
Deputy Secretary General, TNAI to undergo the Commonwealth professional fellowship training
on Patient Safety at NHS, Manchester, England during 1 Dec 2009 to 28 Feb 2010. Three other health
professionals from India also participated in this fellowship training.
The main purpose of the training was to strengthen the knowledge of Commonwealth fellows on
various aspects of patient safety that enables them to plan and utilise this learning in provision of
quality patient care and promotion of patient safety in India.
Prof Rajan Madhiok, Medical Director and Dr Judith Strobel, Chief Quality Officer, NHS, Manchester
coordinated this programme. During this training the fellows had an opportunity to learn about
Clinical Governance which include Clinical Audit, Clinical Guidelines, Risk Assessment and Management,
Patient Safety Incidence Reporting and Learning, Root Cause Analysis, Communication
skill, etc. In addition, workshops on Leading improvement in patient safety, Quality improvement
training, Leadership training, Root Cause Analysis, Patient Safety, NICE conference and Joint
Commissioning conference in Manchester were attended by them during this period. There was
also an opportunity to visit the range of health care institutions and interact with professionals and
managers.
The fellows could also spend time with the National agencies such as Department of Health,
National Patient Safety Agency, National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence, General
Medical Council and WHO. They received intensive coaching through small group work and from
recognised leaders in the field. This training enabled them to gain comprehensive understanding
about patient safety in terms of both the extent of the problem and ways of reducing harm.
By undergoing this training, Mrs Nanthini is well informed to promote the patient safety agenda in
India. After getting the approval from TNAI management board, she will be able to implement the
following:
Sensitising health professionals on patient safety.
Helping / motivating them to establish committee on patient safety.
Motivating them to improve communication within the committee / team.
Encouraging nurses to adopt existing WHO guidelines on infection control.
Encouraging nurses to adopt hand hygiene practices.
Motivating them to improve infection control and waste management as components of quality
assurance.
Educating nurses with regular updates on patient safety(through the NJI)
Making health professionals understand that patient safety and quality of care, as core values
need to be established in all functions and at all levels.
Suggest the INC, the regulatory body to integrate patient safety concept in pre-service nursing
training curriculum.
Integrate patient safety concept in TNAI’s regular CEP workshops.
Conduct a national workshop on Patient Safety for nurse professionals.
Policy position statement on Patient Safety-TNAI.
