Nigerian government develops national policy on patient safety

The Nigerian government has developed the National Policy and Implementation Strategy on Patient Safety and Healthcare Quality.

The development, the government said, is part of efforts to improve the safety of all medical procedures and enhance the quality of healthcare delivery.

The Permanent Secretary at the Federal Ministry of Health, Kachollom Daju, disclosed this at a press briefing in Abuja on Monday.

At the briefing, which was in commemoration of the 2023 World Patient Safety Day, Ms Daju said the national policy is in line with resolution 18 of the 55th World Health Assembly which called for member states to recognise the burden of patient safety and to set up policies to manage them.

“This policy focuses on improving patient and family engagement in healthcare, medication safety, surgical safety, infection prevention & control, safety of all medical procedures and others,” said Ms Daju.

She said the federal government is hopeful that health facilities at all levels will adopt and implement this policy.

She noted that patient safety fundamentally entails preventing errors and minimising harm to patients during provision of healthcare services.

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Source: Premium Times, 19 September 2023