The 7th International Patient Safety Conference (IPSC) 2017 concluded with the adoption of the Mumbai Declaration on Patient Safety.

The IPSC event organized by Apollo Hospitals in Mumbai witnessed collaboration with eminent speakers and international agencies including WHO, IMA, AIIMS, IMA, KPMG, JCI (US), NABH and leading Indian providers.

The Union Minister of State for Health & Family Welfare, Anupriya Patel addressed a joint plenary session on patient safety and IT in healthcare.

The Mumbai Declaration suggested recommendations for government to encourage individual physicians, healthcare professionals, patients and other partner organizations to work together to establish systems that secure patient safety.

Addressing the session, Patel said, “Patient safety and the use of technology in healthcare will be the great driving force for creating a health system that is accessible, equitable and affordable. The government is very keen in addressing the patient safety challenge and improving healthcare through IT. This we believe can be met through a cross-sectoral approach that is partnerships, collaborations and policy formulations.”

Sharing his thoughts, Dr. Prathap C. Reddy, chairperson and founder, Apollo Hospitals Group said, “We believe that patient safety is a subject of great concern and should be considered a priority to address the healthcare challenges. It is not just the role of government, but we as healthcare providers to come together and bring in the global best practices on patient safety in India.”

Talking on the adoption of the Mumbai Declaration, Sangita Reddy, joint managing director, Apollo Hospitals says, “The Mumbai Declaration marks a paradigm move to ensure that patient safety becomes sacrosanct to the way care is delivered. The declaration will make patient centricity the bedrock in the age of Uber-isation and Democratisation of healthcare. We urge all stakeholders – doctors, hospitals, policymakers and the government to further the philosophy of the Mumbai Declaration and usher in an era of quality care that is accessible to all.”

The Mumbai Declaration on Patient Safety recommends that separate forums be created for antibiotic policy framework, facility safety framework, overall patient safety standards and a forum for measuring and monitoring outcomes at the government level. It recommends each hospital to drive on the principles defined by the declaration viz: every hospital shall have a person designated for patient safety, a Patient Safety Committee with representatives from medical services, nursing, engineering, housekeeping, pharmacy and infection control that shall meet every quarter.

The hospital shall train all its employees on patient safety issues and hand washing, educate its patients on patient safety issues and give them opportunity to ask questions. It shall have a policy and implemented system on reporting of adverse events within the organization. Every hospital shall cooperate with one another and exchange information about adverse events, including errors, their solutions, and “lessons learned” to improve patient safety. It shall collect rates for the following patient safety indices: Patient falls, Pressure ulcers, Needle stick injuries, Medication errors (Prescription, transcription, dispensing and administration errors), Hospital acquired infections, Antibiotic utilization, Hand washing.

Over 2000 delegates from over 26 countries gathered at the 7th IPSC and the 8th edition of Revolutionizing Healthcare through IT (RHIT).

Dr. Deepak Sawant, minister of public health & family welfare, government of Maharashtra and Dr Pradip Vyas, health secretary, government of Maharashtra addressed the 7th IPCS delegates on the opening day.

Dr Sawant said, “Today we have almost 6 crore people being treated in India and ‘affordability with safety’ is a concern for all. In this regard I would like to request accreditation bodies to minimise the clerical work involved and focus on the practical on-ground realities so that patient safety is accorded focus rather than paper work.”

Commenting on the issues that patients and hospitals face today, he said, “It is important that hospitals train staff to manage not just the patient but also the family and emphasise communication and transparency so that incidents of vandalism and patient distress are avoided.”

Addressing the plenary session of the patient safety conference Dr. Preetha Reddy, vice chairperson, Apollo Hospitals Group said, “Safeguarding patient interest and safety requires us to adopt a holistic, systematic approach that extends across professional, cultural, technological and procedural boundaries. In order to this we have to increase engagement with patients, care-givers, the public, clinical partners, healthcare organisations, and the government. Unfortunately while longstanding issues remain unresolved, new threats to patient safety emerge each day. Patient safety and the first principle, do no harm, need to be continually at the core of all we do. In order to do so, healthcare systems need to become accessible, affordable and accountable.”

Other eminent speakers speaking at the IPSC event were, Sir David Dalton, CEO, Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust, UK; Ms Paula Wilson, CEO, Joint Commission International, USA; Dr Ravi Wankhedkar, National President, IMA & Dr Jayesh Lele, IMA, Mumbai Chapter.

Speakers at the RHIT event included, Alexander Thomas, executive director, Association of Healthcare Providers of India, Deepak Agarwal, chairman, Department of Computerization AIIMS, New Delhi; Keith Fraidenburg, executive VP & COO, CHIME, USA & Anil Bhansali, MD, Microsoft India Development Centre.

The thematic topics of this year’s IPSC included role of physicians in patient safety and quality improvement, use of data analytics to identify opportunities for improving patient safety.