Safety and quality update: April 2022
12 April 2022
New this month: Safety alerts; ACSQHC Fact sheet on identification of neural route medicines, fluids and lines; Colour-coding for escalating criticality; New Zealand Sepsis Stocktake; ‘Fast Feed and Wrap’ to avoid anaesthesia for babies; and more.
Safety alerts
New since last month:
- Misaligned volume markings on BD 5mL syringe
See all Safety alerts
New ACSQHC fact sheet
An increasing number of health services have implemented neural connector devices. ANZCA has endorsed a new fact sheet from the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care (ACSQHC): Identification of neural route medicines, fluids and lines. This fact sheet is a timely practice reminder to help clinicians managing neural administration of injectable medicines and fluids. It distils key advice for quick reference from the ANZCA-endorsed National Standard for User-applied Labelling of Injectable Medicines Fluids and Lines.
Download fact sheet
Colour-coding for escalating criticality – new webAIRS article
A new article based on webAIRS data, A proposed system for standardization of colour-coding stages of escalating criticality in clinical incidents by Stavros Prineas, Martin Culwick and Yasmin Endlich, has recently been published in Current Opinion in Anaesthesiology: December 2021, Volume 34, Issue 6, p 752-760. More on webAIRS:
Read the article
New Zealand National Sepsis Stocktake, and other HSQC news
The New Zealand Health Safety and Quality Commission (HSQC) has announced the opening of the National Sepsis Stocktake. The HSQC is working with Synergia Ltd to carry out a national stocktake of the current prevention and management of sepsis at DHBs, private surgical hospitals, ambulance services and a selection of emergency care clinics. Organisations will be invited to participate via an online survey and/or interview from 11 April 2022.
Also released this month from HSQC are new data from the National hand hygiene compliance report and the Quality safety marker dashboard.
More information
‘Fast feed and wrap’ to avoid anaesthesia for babies – Choosing Wisely webinar, 11 May 2022
Dr Fiona Taverner FANZCA will be presenting on the Fast Feed and Wrap project at Women's and Children's Health Network in South Australia. The Fast Feed and Wrap project is a novel approach to caring for babies who require PICC lines without a general anaesthetic. This is a free webinar in the Choosing Wisely Champion Health Services monthly series.
Register
ACHS Quality Improvement Masterclass Series 2021 – recordings available
As a member benefit, the Australian Council on Healthcare Standards (ACHS) has made available recordings of its Quality Improvement Masterclass Series 2021, featuring four international speakers on quality and safety in healthcare. Topics include post-COVID learnings, hospital avoidance in COVID, patient-consumer leadership and QI for cost reduction.
Watch videos
ACHS Quality Improvement Awards 2022 – open for nominations
The ACHS 25th Annual Quality Improvement Awards are now open for nominations. These awards recognise safety and quality in Australian healthcare organisations in:
- Clinical Excellence & Patient Safety
- Non-clinical Service Delivery
- Healthcare Measurement
All ACHS member organisations are eligible to nominate, and nominations close 9 September 2022.
Find out more
Victorian sentinel events annual report 2020-21
Safer Care Victoria has released its annual report on sentinel events for 2020-21. Sentinel events in Victoria fall into 11 categories of adverse patient safety events that result or could result in serious harm or death. This year, 168 events were reported and 1041 recommendations for improvement made. This year’s focus themes are mental health, residential aged care and the impact of COVID-19.
Download the report
Safer Care Victoria 'Giant Steps' conference, 26-27 May 2022
Giant Steps 22 is Victoria’s healthcare quality and safety conference, and this year’s theme is Reflect, Reimagine, Revive. It’s on 26-27 May 2022 at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre. There’s currently a promotional code available for 30% off tickets – for both in-person attendance and online.
Register