Summary
Standardised data and integration of systems are vital for full traceability, improving patient safety, and enabling swift action in healthcare incidents.
The PIP breast implant scandal was not the first and transvaginal mesh will not be the last. In fact, the next national patient safety scandal is likely manifesting today.
“There needs to be better processes to ‘track and trace’ patients who have received a device when a problem arises,” says Professor Sir Terence Stephenson, Nuffield professor of child health at UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health and chair of the Health Research Authority for England, in the Scan4Safety 2020 report. “Clear strategies and channels are needed to inform patients, the public and clinical professionals to help improve safety.”
One common denominator among such incidents is the lack of traceability – limited visibility of the devices used, when and where they are used and, most importantly, in or on which patients. This is where standardised data comes into play.
There is no shortage of data in the NHS. However, the ability to standardise and share that data between systems and organisations is something the health service as a whole still lacks. Today, achieving full traceability remains a key challenge for the NHS, with repercussions that continue to have a detrimental effect on patient care.
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