Patient Safety

Patient and families are well informed and educated about their healthcare needs in a language and manner that is understood by them by concerned Healthcare Staff.

• When appropriate, the patient and family will be educated about:
  • Hospital processes
  • The safe and effective use of medication and the potential side effects of the medication.
  • Potential drug-food interactions
  • Diet and nutrition.
  • Immunizations.
  • Specific disease process, complications and prevention strategies.
  • Preventing infections.
  • When and how to obtain further treatment, if needed
• Patients are encouraged to become an active, involved, and informed member of their health care team. Listed below are ways that the patients may be encouraged to promote their safety.
  • Patients are instructed to ask if they have questions about their health or safety.
  • The patient is taught to know what medications they take and why they take them.
  • Patients are instructed to adhere to the hospitals No Tobacco Policy.
  • Patients are also provided information about diet in the form of Diet charts and counseling by Dieticians

• All the staff of the hospital respects the special preferences, spiritual and cultural needs.
• Prayer room is always open to for visitors & patient attendants for meditation/worship.
• Any special preferences, spiritual and cultural needs are not possible to address, the staff at the scene shall explain the limitations and seek an excuse for the same in a polite manner

• In the course of performing work responsibilities, patient information is considered confidential with regard to patients, their families, their physicians, healthcare personnel details, and/or healthcare matters. As a condition of employment, personnel are cautioned not to discuss any such privileged information with others.
• RGCI&RC Healthcare personnel will extend their ethical responsibility of patient confidentiality, to hospital /organizational confidentiality by not disclosing any hospital related matters where patients can hear, other than as a professional response to general inquiries. RGCI&RC personnel should avoid making any public statements related to hospital /organizational confidential matters, leaving the responsibility for such statements to the senior member of the treating team/department.

• The diet & nutrition related issues during the treatment are explained to patients as well as their families on daily dietician rounds. In addition to this, the patient/attendant can go to Dietary department any time for dietary counseling.
• At the time of stay & discharge, dietary advice is to be given to the patients that need to be followed at home. Also, the patient/attendants can have a counseling session with the dietician wherein she will provide the Diet chart to the patient for better clarity.

In line with the RGCI&RC quality policy, “to do things right first time and every time” the safety of our patients is of paramount importance. Each and every employee working in RGCI&RC must ensure freedom from all healthcare associated preventable harm. To improve patient safety error has to be prevented, rectified or at least minimized. To ensure the same patient safety devices (For example, grab bars, bed rails, sign posting, safety belts on stretchers and wheel chairs, alarms both visual and auditory where applicable, warning signs like radiation or biohazard, call bells, fire safety devices etc.) are installed across the organization and are inspected periodically. In order to ensure patient safety RGCI&RC strive implement and achieve below mentioned patient safety goals.

• Correct Patient Identification
• Improve Staff communication
• Medication Safety
• Surgical Safety
• Preventing Patient Fall
• Preventing Pressure Ulcer
• Safety from Hospital Acquired (Nosocomial Infections)

Facility inspection rounds to ensure safety are conducted at least once in a quarter. During these rounds potential safety risks are identified. Inspection reports are documented. The findings, corrective and preventive measures undertaken are discussed in safety committee and other appropriate forums.

We monitor various key performance indicators for every department to systematically evaluate and continuously improve service performance. They are used to measure hospital performance viz:

• Clinical efficiency (Clinical quality, evidence based practices, health improvement and outcomes for patients),
• Operational efficiency (Resource utilization of services like reduction in waiting time)
• Focus on Patient & employee safety (Patient & employee satisfaction)

The data is collected, collated and analyzed on structures, processes and outcomes for further improvements and discussed in various committee meetings. Few examples are:

• Monitoring of patient waiting time in OPD and diagnostics
• Time taken for discharge
• Average length of stay
• Mortality rate
• Hand hygiene rate
• Patient satisfaction index