The Disease Management Association of India (DMAI) in association with Forum for Enhancing Quality Healthcare (FEQH) and the department of public health, Government of Maharashtra is jointly organising a one-day workshop on ‘patient for patient safety’ on April 24  in Mumbai. The one-day workshop aims at sensitising the practitioners, care givers and the patients on the importance of patient safety and to create awareness about the dangers of unintended medical errors.

According to Dr Nikhil Datar, Secretary, DMAI and founder member, FEQH, “Through this workshop we want to sensitise the general public and the medical community about the dangers of unintended medical errors. The magnitude of deaths caused due to medical errors is huge but, sadly it remains unnoticed because it does not occur only in one place it is a universal problem that needs urgent attention.”

He informed that unintended medical harm is the ninth common cause of deaths in the world and to control it the WHO had recently started a separate wing called World Alliance for Patient safety to address this problem. Even the Government of India had recently started a department of patient safety in the ministry of health.

Dr Datar who is also a pre-eminent gynaecologist and medico-legal expert points out, “Unlike the developed world, where substantial initiatives are taken towards safer care for patients, very little is being done here in India. We need to understand that the issue of patient safety is not an individual problem it is a general issue that needs to be taken care holistically with the support of every one.”

He informed that the workshop will focus on updating the practitioners, care givers and the patients on the dangers of medical errors and would deliberate on the challenges and opportunities in patient safety for reducing medical errors.

This workshop will be attended by leading healthcare providers across India and United Kingdom (UK). The workshop will be addressed by two international faculty professor Lord Muir Gray, chief knowledge officer, NHS UK and professor Rajan Madhok, medical director, NHS Manchester. Dr Datar who is the organising chairperson of this event informed that the Maharashtra Medical Council is considering to grant academic credit points to the doctors attending the programme as a token of appreciation for the initiative they are taking towards patient safety.

“There is a great need to sensitise the doctors about this issue since practicing doctors play the most important role in providing safe medical care to the patients and thus help in reducing the unintended medical errors,” he added.