Strategies for Improving Safety - Essay Example

"Strategies for Improving Safety" is a great example of a paper on the health system.
The assessment of health organizations is often carried out by the Quality Assessment Team (QAT). Among the things that the assessment covers include clinical governance and leadership, quality measurement and improvement, ethics and patient rights, and patient safety. The success of the assessment is enhanced by applying amicable methods such as observation, one-on-one interviews, and review of documents (High-Alert Medications: Strategies for Improving Safety 6). Through observation, the QAT assesses infection control practices, the performance of procedures involved in the treatment as well as control practices.

Observation also aids QAT to learn how a given health organization manages its hazardous materials. Additionally, observation also enables the team to assess the condition of the equipment, the availability of enough space for carrying services efficiently as well as the safety of the environment. Observation is the best method used by many organizations in carrying out self-assessment (International Finance Corporation 17). This is in connection with the fact that most of the services offered in health care centers are observable and measurable. One-on-one interviews with staff, clients, as well as managers through the aid of structured questionnaires, also assist QAT significantly in the collection of data regarding the health care environment. In addition, the interviews lead to the collection of data concerning staff as well as patient satisfaction. The use of interviews assists in the collection of information regarding the services that cannot be provided by just observing (Andrew and Boyle 316). Some information about the health center environment and the services provided is also obtained by reviewing the health center’s documents such as patient registers, personal files, policies, and minutes of meetings.