Patient Safety: Does Hospital Cover Protect You After Admission?

The professional world of the 21st century is, without a   doubt, very demanding. We are expected to tackle our day-to-day responsibilities with enthusiasm, striving for perfection and self-improvement, while still being ready for the next challenge.

Do we, however, sometimes lose sight of how easily things can change? Definitely. We often look past how quickly physical injuries can upset the whole flow of our lives. Hospital cover gives you peace of mind as it keeps you out of hospital conditions that can otherwise be more harmful than not!

Since Patient Safety Day, we’ve had some time to reflect on how far medical practices and programmes have come in creating seamless medical procedures that protect patients admitted for medical care. Many hospitals serve as examples of quality patient care, while others inevitably fall short - whether it’s due to an inaccessible location, lack of funding, or simply being understaffed. The reality of medical malpractice stemming from these factors, unfortunately, still threatens the medical industry.

Recent statistics posted by the 2016 Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture suggest that the reason roughly one out of every ten individuals contract an infection after being admitted in hospital isn’t due to incompetence or ineffective procedures. Here’s what the survey showed:

• Teamwork and communication on the floor, training programmes and campaigns promoting patient safety, management support and feedback after errors all score very well,

• Staffing, communication across different fields and subsequent handoffs have, however, scored below average.

We may venture to say, then, that patient safety comes down to medical institutions making sure that they address these gaps in communication and staff capacity. Medical staff seldom have downtime to spend on patient transitioning (often requiring the expertise of specialists who don’t brief nurses fully on information that may be key in keeping a patient healthy).  To fix this issue, each hospital needs to hire a person who can manage transitions to solve the internal problem. This will also take the pressure off of those currently dealing with these tasks and giving them time and energy to focus on their real responsibilities.

Make sure that your medical aid and its associated medical institutions have given attention to their internal processes and have a good patient safety reputation before committing to a plan.