According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the risk of being harmed during healthcare is much greater than the risk of being harmed by air travel or nuclear plants, sources usually perceived as being of much greater risk. The chance of being harmed in an aircraft is 1 in 1,000,000, whereas in healthcare it is 1 in 300. This number is an average based on the incidence of adverse events worldwide. It is important to stress that there are differences between developed and developing countries; in fact, the risk can be 20 times higher in developing countries.

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Régulièrement, on entend parler de patients pour qui les soins ont mal tourné. Au-delà des cas individuels hautement médiatisés, quelle est l’ampleur des erreurs médicales ou, dans le langage scientifique, des événements indésirables? Quelles en sont les causes? Y a-t-il des solutions?

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Un établissement de santé qui offre des soins de qualité est un établissement qui répond aux besoins des patients de manière appropriée en fonction des connaissances et dont les actions ne mettent pas l’ensemble des acteurs dans des situations à risque. Comment mesure-t-on et évalue-t-on la qualité et la sécurité des soins? Quelle est la situation au Canada et que peut-on faire pour améliorer la qualité et la sécurité? Dans cette entrevue, Marie-Pascale Pomey, professeure agrégée à l’Université de Montréal offre des éléments de réponse à ces questions.

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In the last few years, there has been a lot of discussion surrounding the use of “smart chips” or “smart tags”, more precisely known as radiofrequency identification tags or RFID. Actually, RFID has been around for awhile. It was deployed originally by the British military in the1940s to assist in the identification of friendly versus enemy aircraft. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the need for security surrounding the use of nuclear materials drove further development of RFID tagging of equipment and personnel.

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Healthcare professionals in obstetrics have to face different challenges and are working in conditions that may conduce to error. On the other hand, complications are relatively rare and it might be hard to develop a lot of experience with these adverse events. In this interview, Emily Hamilton, senior VP of clinical research at PeriGen presents how technology can address these challenges and create a safety net with tools that can assist clinicians in decision-making. She also presents the results obtained when using these tools and what are the next steps in her research activities.

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In 2007, the World Health Organization (WHO) worked with a group of experts to create a surgical safety checklist. The objective of the checklist is to reduce the complications and mortality associated with adverse events in surgery. The checklist is also a good tool to improve communication among team members. The list is adjustable to every situation and each hospital can adapt it. In order to help understand why operating teams should use the checklist and how to use it, the WHO produced three videos: in the first two videos, we can see how to follow the steps whether the case is complex or not. The third video shows a case where a surgical team did not use the checklist.

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Technology can create a better work environment in nursing care when it improves the efficiency, the safety and the quality of care. In 2008, the California HealthCare Foundation published a report where eight new technologies used in hospitals in the United States were described. The report highlights different problems faced by inpatient nurses in their daily activities and how these innovations have helped creating a better and safer environment. Three of the eight technologies described in the report can help improving patient safety and quality of care: workflow management systems, wireless patient monitoring and electronic medication administration with bar coding.

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En 2007, au Québec, l’Association canadienne de protection médicale (ACPM) a reçu environ 3000 demandes d’intervention pour défendre des médecins qui ont fait l’objet d’une plainte de la part de patients. De ces demandes, 181 ont fait l’objet de poursuites en justice et six seulement ont donné lieu à des jugements favorables aux patients. De plus, l’ACPM a versé 173 millions de dollars en indemnités à l’ensemble des patients canadiens et elle a déboursé 220 millions de dollars en frais d’avocat et d’expertise pour la défense des médecins. Robert Tétrault, professeur de droit à l’université de Sherbrooke, nous présente dans cette entrevue une esquisse d’un régime québécois d’indemnisation de victimes d’accidents thérapeutiques sans égard à la faute et ce qu’un tel régime impliquerait pour les professionnels de la santé.

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