Patients in Wales are receiving safer and better quality healthcare – thanks to life-saving interventions introduced by the 1000 Lives Campaign.
The two year patient safety initiative which ended yesterday (Wednesday 21 April) has published its latest set of figures. It is estimating that 852 additional lives have been saved in its first eighteen months and more than 29,000 episodes of harm have been averted in its first twelve months.
“The 1000 Lives Campaign has been an outstanding national effort to improve the safety and quality of healthcare in Wales,” said Campaign director, Dr Jonathon Gray. “The enthusiasm and commitment of our frontline staff has been remarkable and we are confident that we’ll reach our aim to save an additional 1000 lives over the full two years.”
Every Health Board and Trust has been involved in the Campaign, working on up to six key action areas. These include reducing healthcare associated infections and surgical complications, and improving critical care and medicines management.
Ailsa Dunn, Consultant Physician at Powys Teaching Health Board, said:
“The 1000 Lives Campaign is easily the best initiative that I’ve ever been asked to participate in. It’s exactly aligned with what we need to be doing to ensure that our services are safe.”
The Campaign has been effective in rolling out best practice across Wales, as seen in the implementation of the World Health Organization’s Surgical Safety Checklist, which is now being used by operating theatre teams throughout Wales.
The checklist ensures that there is effective communication by those involved in the surgery. It focuses on basic good practice: checking the patient’s identity and the correct part of the body for operation, ensuring all necessary equipment is available and providing an opportunity for discussing any complications that may arise.
Patient safety WalkRounds have been introduced in nursing homes, GP practices and hospitals. These help staff to raise safety concerns directly with senior managers, suggest solutions and ensure concerns are quickly acted upon. More than 700 WalkRounds have already taken place across Wales.
Professor Sir Mansel Aylward CB, Chair of Public Health Wales, said:
“The 1000 Lives Campaign has made a significant contribution to our commitment to provide world class healthcare for Wales by 2015. It has successfully engaged senior management, clinicians, frontline staff and patients in the drive for safer care at the same time as pioneering new ways of working, which are now being followed internationally.”
Working with Health Boards and Trusts over the last two years, the 1000 Lives Campaign has also:
- Made sure that patients with deteriorating conditions are now being identified earlier, so that nursing staff can intervene more quickly and request medical intervention;
- Developed a procedure to prevent pressure ulcers, which has led to some wards having gone more than a year without a case;
- Changed attitudes towards infections caused by central line – they are now regarded as avoidable and often investigated as a critical incident when they occur;
- Made sure catheter related blood stream infections (CRBSI) are now a rare, rather than a common event in Wales;
- Engaged patients in the safety agenda by using more of their stories to complement traditional reports and data-based information in board meetings;
- Reduced the number of infections related to surgery – thanks to the replacement of razors with surgical clippers and better monitoring of patient’s temperatures before, during and after surgery;
- Worked with GPs to improve the reliability of drug dosage instructions given to patients, particularly in relation to Warfarin;
- Improved treatment for patients with chronic heart failure through enhanced services, including improvements in diagnosis, medication and lifestyle advice;
- Developed a number of ‘Trigger Tools’, which are now being used by GPs, the Welsh Ambulance Service and staff at Velindre Cancer Centre to identify and track potential harm.
“Patient safety is now on the agenda of every Health Board and Trust in Wales and the Campaign’s new ways of working are clearly making an impact,” said Campaign director, Dr Alan Willson.
“However, it’s essential we maintain the momentum and don’t lose focus. Whilst there is excellent work taking place across Wales – it still remains patchy. The ultimate goal will be to have this good practice embedded in every organisation, so that it can be reliably and consistently delivered.”
The Campaign is to be succeeded in May by 1000 Lives Plus, a five-year programme which will fully embed patient safety and the pursuit for higher quality standards in Welsh healthcare.
