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October 20, 2006 REGIONAL HEALTH AUTHORITIES AMENDMENT AND MANITOBA EVIDENCE AMENDMENT ACT PROCLAIMEDLegislation to Further Improve Patient Safety
By Strengthening Reporting of Critical Incidents: Oswald
Legislation to enhance patient safety by allowing improved investigation of critical incidents will take effect on Nov1, Health Minister Theresa Oswald announced today, marking the beginning of Patient Safety Week in Manitoba.
The Regional Health Authorities Amendment and Manitoba Evidence Amendment Act will require by law that regional health authorities, health-care facilities and other health-care organizations report critical incidents that can occur when patients receive health-care services.
“Since 2003, Manitoba has required the reporting of critical incidents. By proclaiming this requirement in legislation, we are further enhancing patient safety in Manitoba and building on our reputation as a leader in patient-safety issues,” said Oswald. “This legislation will help protect the rights of individuals involved in a critical incident by requiring patients be fully informed about the facts of their cases and how the health-care system will respond.”
The legislation will apply to regional health authorities, hospitals, personal-care homes, all licensed land and air ambulances, the Selkirk Mental Health Centre, CancerCare Manitoba and Diagnostic Services Manitoba.
Winnipeg Regional Health Authority president and CEO Dr. Brian Postl said the new legislation will help all regions in learning from critical incidents and finding ways to prevent them from happening again. “Rarely is a medical error caused by one factor. There are usually a number of factors - such as where medicines are stored, how they are labelled or the type of training given - that come together and cause these critical incidents,” Postl said. “Being able to do thorough reviews of them will result in a safer environment for our patients, staff and other health-care professionals.”
“This legislation will also support health-care providers in sharing information about critical incidents by making sure analysis and opinions are kept confidential to encourage them to provide as much information as possible during an investigation,” said Oswald. “We will continue to work with our partners in health care to reduce the potential of critical incidents and make any necessary changes to increase the safety of our health-care system.”
Manitoba has been a leader in patient safety initiatives, said Oswald. Since 1999, the province has:
· created of the Manitoba Institute for Patient Safety (in 2004),
· introduced the requirement that personal-care homes develop a bill of rights to protect their more than 9,000 residents,
· developed a process for internal disclosure of staff concerns,
· amended the Medical Act to allow the College of Physicians and Surgeons to post physician profiles on the Internet to provide greater transparency,
· implemented a cardiac pediatric-care program as recommended in the Pediatric Cardiac Surgery Inquest report by Associate Chief Judge Murray Sinclair, and
· provided regional health authority guides to health services.
“Our goal is to create cultural change and move away from blaming individuals and more towards patient safety and learning,” said Oswald. “This legislation will increase the level of reporting and will help us better learn from experience to determine how we can change the system to prevent a reoccurrence of critical incidents in the future.”
Manitoba Patient Safety Week runs from Oct. 20 to 27.
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