Media Releases and Communiques
$50 Million to improve safety and quality in health care
Australian Health Ministers have signalled their ongoing commitment to a national collaborative approach to improving the safety and quality of hospitals and health care.
$50 Million to improve safety and quality in health care
Australian Health Ministers have signalled their ongoing commitment to a national collaborative approach to improving the safety and quality of hospitals and health care.
Federal Health Minister, Dr Michael Wooldridge, said Health Ministers had agreed in principle that funding of $50 million would be provided for the Australian Council for Safety and Quality in Health Care to lead a five year national program of work to improve the safety and quality of care.
"This is one of the best investments governments can make to provide the resources, leadership and sustained effort to ensure that improvements in safety are achieved and maintained," Dr Wooldridge said.
Dr Wooldridge added, "The Council was set up to take forward nationally led work to make our health system safer, and I welcome their proposed way forward which will make a real difference on the ground and support the efforts of all in the health system to improve the safety and quality of care."
The Council's report, Safety First, presented to Health Ministers at their meeting today in New Zealand, said the safety of health in Australia required urgent attention to ensure patients did not suffer accidental injury as a result of their care.
The report said the majority of incidents or errors arose from a sequence of failures in the processes of care - not as a result of negligence on the part of care givers.
It pointed out that the health sector has much to learn from other industries - the air transport industry for instance - with regard to risk management and systemic approaches to safety.
State and Territory Health Ministers commented that the collaborative national approach to safety led by the Council ensures that all governments, hospitals, doctors, health care providers and the community will work together to achieve improvement.
"This will build on and contribute to similar work being internationally, for example, in the United Kingdom and the Unites States."
"Given the complexity of modern health care, it is extremely important to plan and manage so as to minimise the risk of mistakes occurring. This is a problem across all western health systems, and we are determined to make Australia a world leader in tackling this issue - as it is a leader in many areas of health reform," Dr Wooldridge said.
The five year strategy will target improvements in data collection and reporting mechanisms, more effective ways to support the safe practices of health care professionals, and re-design of systems to strengthen a culture of safety improvement within health care organisations.
Standards and protocols will be developed for health professionals and managers, and the community will be better informed about and more involved in health care safety improvement.
The Council will report on progress to Health Ministers and implementation will be reviewed each year.
Chairing the meeting, South Australian Human Services Minister, Dean Brown, said he would be watching progress of the Strategy with great interest.
"I am looking forward to some firm solutions that we can all learn from."
For further information or for copies of Safety First contact the Council Secretariat on (02) 6289 4244 or email: safetyandquality@health.gov.au
Media Contact: Serena Williams, Dr Wooldridge's office, 0411 261 627
Virginia Dove, Department of Health and Aged Care, 0411 255 229
Peter Gandolfi, Mr Brown's office, 0418 851 033
