PATIENT SAFETY CULTURE - Essay Example

At the same time, there are self-practicing doctors who provide independent medical services to patients who visit them on a regular basis and have less purchasing power. The issue of patient safety arises when the doctor wrongly prescribes a medicine to a patient which gives rise to further complications of the case. Likewise, in hospitals, the doctors wrongly input the data of the patient by way of non-standardized abbreviations that are against the rules of the hospital. These risks taken with a patient’s life can be life-threatening.

Particularly, when a patient's record is mixed with another patient due to the use of non-standardized writing. In the recent decade, the issue of patient safety has been debated in the developed countries. In United Kingdom, the National Patient Safety Agency (NPSA) has been established to oversee the issue of patient safety and to develop tools to implement a patient safety culture in the hospitals and on individual basis. The NPSA aims to bring into alignment the safety of patient with the objectives of the organizations (NPSA, 2012).

To achieve this NPSA provides awareness sessions that focus on the developing capacity of the medical staff and doctors in each organization. Likewise, they create public awareness among the patients to understand the importance of patient safety and its impacts on their lives. . information about the drug, directions for use, its side effects and any other important information that if not disclosed may result into serious situation for the patient. Claridge and Sandars (2007) highlighted that the hospitals can implement patient safety by giving due consideration to the patient’s history and other particulars before prescribing a drug.

The decision to prescribe a particular drug to a patient should not be based upon precedent. Each patient is different and so is their medical history. Therefore, each patient should be prescribed a drug depending upon one’s disease, side effects, interactions, age and sex, etc. Likewise, Claridge and Sandars (2007) highlight that in case where the patient has been given a drug based on long-term should be regularly reviewed for any possible changes in their effect and dosage. Also, they recommend that in order to reduce the threats to the patient safety, it is important to provide proper education of such threats to the patients.

Thus, empowering them with the knowledge about how to ensure their safety. Spath (2002) argues that the patient safety culture is a part of every hospital and medical facility. The norms and conduct of the employees of the facility show the patient safety culture they exercise. However, Spath (2002) highlights that the culture is an on-going process which takes effect in the long-term and has a long-lasting impact. It takes time to change the culture and this culture change in the medical facilities can also be achieved with a proper procedure and systematic method.

For instance, Spath (2002) postulated that the first step towards bring a culture change in the medical facility is through empowerment of the staff members instead of ensuring their involvement. For instance, the