When patients visit a hospital, they trust that will be cared for accordingly and that their safety will always be prioritized. A hospital should be well equipped to ensure that patients receive the best care possible. There are also safety measures that should be put in place to prevent further accidents and infections in health care facilities and to make sure that each and everyone is safe, patients and healthcare workers in general. In this short blog, we are going to briefly look at these safety measures and how to go about them.
Maintain Cleanliness and Hygiene
By all means, a hospital should always be kept clean at all times. This is an effort to ensure that each and every patient that comes to the premises is safe from any kind of infections that may be as a result of unhygienic practices. This is particularly of great importance during these times when we are experiencing the adverse effects of the covid 19 pandemic.
There should be dedicated hand washing and sanitizing stations around the premises so everyone who comes in should be able to clean their hands. There should be strict mask policies whereby anyone who is not wearing a mask does not get any services. Hospitals should also make use of medical plastic injection companies to provide them with disposable medical devices such as plastic syringes and other test apparatus.
Electrical Safety
A hospital, especially one that caters to admissions and has an ICU facility, should always ensure that there is constant flow of electricity so that all the critical machines can always be in operation. These machines include ICU life monitors and life support machines.
With this in mind, all medical facilities should have different electrical safety measures in place. Such include a vcb contact that will ensure continued and safe flow of power all around the premises. In case of any blackouts, always have a backup generator in place to cater for all power-dependent machines.
Water and Food Safety
An inpatient facility should always ensure that there is enough food and water for patients in wards. Not only should the food be adequate but it should always be safe for consumption. This is where staff training and education come into play. Staff handling food need a food safety certification like a SITXFSA001 to ensure they follow safety standards and practices. They are often assisted by sealed food, but nonetheless need the appropriate training to understand food safety in a hospital setting.
Water should always be treated to prevent water-borne diseases. All hospitals should ensure that they treat their patients and not expose them to more diseases. Medical facilities should also have a nutrition expert on call to provide all the nutritional guidelines for different medical conditions.
Verify all Medical Procedures
I am sure you have about one or two cases of patients getting the wrong medical procedures that were meant for maybe another patient. This is mostly common in public hospitals where doctors and nurses are overwhelmed with the high number of patients in the facilities. Can you imagine going in for a right knee replacement procedure and end up with a procedure on your left knee instead?
To prevent such incidents, all medical facilities should have a system in place whereby all medical procedures are verified before they are performed on a patient. This will ensure that patients are well taken care of and the hospital boards will also be able to steer clear of law medical-related lawsuits which can be very damaging to them.
Ensure Adequate Staffing
There is adequate research that shows that when a doctor or a nurse is fatigued due to extended shifts, they are likely to make mistakes and end up risking the lives of patients. Take for instance public health facilities where patients are streaming in by the minute, yet the number of medical practitioners to cater for them are very limited. What happens in such instances?
You find that the patient to doctor ratio doesn’t make sense at all. Health providers end up overworking, and the chances of missing a diagnosis on a patient then rises by a big percentage. Therefore, hospitals should ensure that there is sufficient medical staff to cater for all patients without anyone straining.
Conclusion
Most of the time, patients choose to go back to a medical facility that provided them with the best care the first time they visited. A hospital is a very critical service provider and should be able to adhere to the above-mentioned safety precautions, and more. Just as we have already mentioned, the lawsuits and penalties that come with dangerous health practices in hospitals are enough to bring one crashing to the ground. Remember that the well-being of a patient comes first, not to forget the health care provider.
