Quality of Medical help

Every hospital or health institute must evaluate and select its staff. There is often a mandate for the renewal of contracts after a year or two. This is to evaluate the medical staff before he can continue.

However stringent caution is taken, often there are negligence and malpractices that occur time and again in such set-ups. Because of this, there are very strict policies designed by the hospitals. Such policies are designed from the quality assurance evaluations. All assurance evaluations have the following elements: identification of the problem, identification of the source, the nature of the problem, how to improve, design of policies, and implementation and monitoring of the policies.

Quality assurance involves the evaluation of the following:

• Safety: The safety of the area where patient is kept. The hygiene of the place should be noted. Often in children's ward, or in psychiatric unit, or drug rehabilitation unit, often architectural safety is a must.
• Testing before medical action: Often diagnosis and decision of the patient condition before an operation, or before any emergency aid is given, lies in the hand of the attending doctor or the nurse. Often ignorance of the preoperative check-list occurs.
• Timely action: A delay in alarming for emergency help to the patient, or avoiding the tests that may be suggestive or required before medication, or even just ignoring other conditions that could be the result of surgery or chemotherapy, all come under this criteria.
• Accurate and proper notification of results: Any finding or result of tests should be immediately notified. It can prevent delay in medication or even wrong medication. Often decision on the pre-operative tests lies on x-rays and tests which if ignored or not in time may have serious consequences.

Note:

• Legal help can be obtained from the various Medical Authories and Medical Associations.
• Doctors and nurses are doing the best they can. Is there anyway you can help? You can provide feedback of your experience, feedback on your observations, and feedback about the quality of care provided
• There is a book available at the counter for all your assessments and evaluations. Please feel free to comment. It will help the authorities to assess the situation.

Compiled by: Indrajit Sinha; Last updated: 08.11.07 © Medhospital Foundation

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