Intended to encourage the public to learn more about healthcare safety, National Patient Safety Awareness Week is being held during the week of March 14th-20th, led by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI). This week in March serves as a dedicated time and platform to raise awareness about patient safety, advances that have already been made, and improvements that need to be made. To promote patient well-being, it all comes down to fostering cultures of safety in hospitals and healthcare facilities.
While significant improvements in patient safety have been made over the past two decades, statistics reveal that medical harm is the leading cause of death across the world. In the United States, 400,000 deaths annually occur due to errors and preventable harm. Although not every case of error results in death, there are often long-term impacts on physical and emotional health, financial well-being, and family relationships. With that being said, it is important to realize that preventing harm in healthcare settings is a public health concern.
Everyone interacts with the healthcare system at some point, which means that everyone has a role in advancing safe healthcare. Patient safety is how healthcare organizations protect their patients from errors, injuries, infections, and death. Strong healthcare teams at hospitals work together to prevent accidents from being made, but some healthcare systems have teams that do not work well together or lack strong leadership to ensure that patient safety is a top priority. Medical malpractice can include:
- Wrongful Diagnosis/Failure to Diagnose a Condition
- Improper Treatment
- Surgical Errors
- Emergency Room Errors
- Pharmaceutical Errors
- Birth Injuries
- Wrongful Death
- Delay in Treatment
- Hospital Negligence
If you see an error made at a hospital, talk to someone immediately. It is important to discuss what you saw with a staff member at the healthcare organization in a calm, yet assertive manner. People interpret things differently, so talking with your family and healthcare team will ensure that you or your loved one is receiving the best care possible. To get involved during Patient Safety Awareness Week, healthcare professionals can take the pledge to encourage patient safety and organizations can use their platform to spread awareness.
When you receive care at a hospital or healthcare facility, you expect your safety to be treated as the number one priority. If you or a loved one have suffered an injury due to an error made by a healthcare professional at a hospital or facility, you may be entitled to financial compensation. Our attorneys at Spiros Law, P.C. are skilled in representing medical malpractice clients and understand how traumatic this experience can be for individuals and their families. Contact us today or stop by one of our offices in Champaign, Danville, or Kankakee to discuss your options with a legal professional.
