How Mediclinic’s patient safety managers make a difference

Patient safety managers play a key role in ensuring any situations that could affect patient safety are handled properly. Here’s how they work to keep you safe.

Patient safety is about making healthcare safer by setting up systems, routines, tools, and environments that lower risks, prevent harm, and reduce mistakes or their impact. Carla King, Patient Safety Manager at Mediclinic Kloof, shares how Mediclinic prioritises this critical aspect of medical care.

Many of us have heard about scenarios like a patient falling while trying to walk to the bathroom alone, or even worse, a patient having the wrong body part operated on. “It’s the job of Mediclinic patient safety managers to ensure these events don’t take place,” King says.

She proudly points out that Mediclinic is the only hospital group to have dedicated patient safety managers. Typically, this responsibility is handled by the quality control department. "This shows how much priority Mediclinic places on patient safety," she adds.

A multifaceted process

Ensuring patient safety is a complex process that involves many different people across the hospital. “Basically, it’s about developing systems to prevent incidents that could cause preventable patient harm,” King says.

The patient safety manager is the custodian of patient safety, which means it’s their job to train other staff members to identify potential hazards. These run a spectrum from “near miss” events, which don’t necessarily affect patients but could cause harm, such as errors in dispensing medication; to “never events”, e.g., where a swab is mistakenly left inside the body of a patient who has undergone surgery, or a patient undergoes a procedure they did not need.

The first step in managing risks is creating a culture where team members feel safe reporting them, says King. "We can't address risks if we don't know about them. When someone reports a potential risk, it helps us focus our attention where it's needed," she explains.

That’s why King considers building a safe culture a top priority. Mediclinic's Patient Safety Company app, where staff can submit reports, plays a key role. It also helps her track trends, view statistics, and monitor the progress of corrective actions.

“Team members can file a report on their phone at any time, although we encourage them to do so within 24 hours of having identified the event. Once it has been investigated, they’ll receive feedback, so they know that action has been taken and how it has been addressed.”

The power of teamwork

King gathers information from several sources to ensure the hospital remains incident free. For example, she attends the daily handover from the night shift team so she’s aware of any adverse event that may have occurred during the night. If an adverse event has taken place, she works with the legal department to decide what corrective actions are needed and talks with the unit manager about steps to prevent it from recurring. She also informs other departments that may be affected by the event.

“A large part of my job involves encouraging all teams within the hospital to work together to identify gaps that may give rise to events, and to ensure proactive action plans are in place to address these gaps. We also encourage the teams to share their learnings so we can prevent adverse events from recurring,” King says.

Making a difference

King’s career began as a registered nurse. “This background is crucial for a patient safety manager because you need a clinical understanding of diseases and treatments," she explains. Ideally, safety managers have at least five years of experience, and while not required, management experience is useful.

“The most rewarding part of this job is knowing we’re making a difference to our patients. Training our teams is a very big part of this: I love teaching people about the importance of patient safety and helping them feel comfortable to report events. That’s key, because the more we mitigate against risks, the safer our environment – and we can only reduce risks if we know what they are. The impact of our work shows: we’re seeing a decrease in the number of events, and that’s because we have taken effective action against risks. In turn, this means better patient outcomes – a win for everyone.”