On August 2, 2022, PUMCH held the 2022 Medical Safety Conference, the main theme of which was to sound the alarm of safety incidents and strengthen responsibility to guarantee medical quality. As an important part of the “100 Days of Safety Actions” campaign launched in mid-July, this conference aims to educate the participants on safety incidents and safety culture. To this end, it clarified the definition PUMCH’s safety culture and how to cultivate it, which has raised participants’ safety awareness.

The meeting was hosted by Vice President Du Bin. Peng Hua, Deputy Director of Department of Medical Affairs, recapped the medical safety work in the first half of 2022, highlighted medical safety incidents, and proposed that clinical work should be treated seriously with the same caution as if one is “approaching the abyss and walking on thin ice” because the importance of medical safety cannot be overstated.

Vice President Du Bin delivered a presentation titled “Cultivate a Culture of Safety in Hospitals”. He told a story of how the John Hopkins Hospital established a fund named after a child who died due to the negligence of medical workers and how the hospital strengthened its safety culture afterwards. By shedding light on the lessons of this case, Vice President Du shared his view on how to cultivate a culture of safety in PUMCH. In this thought-provoking presentation, he said that “inaction is the biggest medical safety hazard…we should be more concerned about whether the entire system and process have flaws rather than individual mistakes… as doctors, we should not only respect life and our duty, but also have a high regard for all the rules and regulations. Whether for the hospital or for the individual workers, medical safety is not a choice but responsibility.”

It was emphasized that medical quality and safety is always high on the agenda in the hospital, and safety is everyone’s responsibility. To develop a culture of medical safety across the hospital, we should take the following actions: first, cultivate staff’s awareness of participating in medical safety by carrying out diverse trainings at different levels, and engage departments in the establishment of safety culture. Second, create an environment which encourages people to discuss medical safety issues and spreads the correct knowledge of the adverse event reporting system. For safety incidents, timely analysis and summary should be exercised to learn the lessons and sound the alarm. Third, strictly implement the system of medical quality and safety. Check the implementation of rules and regulations for medical quality and safety. Establish a long-term medical safety mechanism. Fourth, improve the medical quality and safety system by emphasizing the quality of the front sheet of the impatient medical records and outpatient cases, as well as promoting scientific research in the field of medical safety, and identifying best practices in this regard.

It has been pointed out in the meeting that PUMCH will continue to put the concept of “People First, Life First” into practice, keep improving medical quality and patient safety, which will always be the hospital’s priorities, and implement the guideline of “Centennial PUMCH, All for the People”.

Over 500 participants attended the meeting, including hospital leaders, secretary and deputy secretary of Party Branch Committee, directors, deputy directors and assistant directors of clinical departments, heads and deputy heads of administrative departments, nursing supervisors, executive head nurses, head nurses, surgical team leaders, ward supervisors, outpatient team leaders, overseeing personnel on duty and consulting doctors, etc.

PUMCH held the 2022 Medical Safety Conference

Reporter: Wang Jing

Picture courtesy: Sun Liang

Translator: Liu Haiyan

Editor: Wang Yao