Health and social care priorities for Ireland were the principle themes at an international safety and quality improvement conference today in Dublin Castle.

Attended by over 220 of the country’s health and social care professionals, in addition to international delegates, the European Union Network for Patient Safety and Quality of Care (PaSQ) conference was hosted by HIQA.

HIQA’s Director of Safety and Quality Improvement Marie Kehoe-O’Sullivan said: “As the national contact point for PaSQ, HIQA provided the platform for Irish health and social care professionals to learn from and share experiences with our European contemporaries on quality improvement initiatives that have worked in other countries.”

The aim of the meeting was to strengthen cooperation between EU member states on issues relating to the quality and safety of patient care.

“All countries across Europe are encountering the same challenges when it comes to providing the best possible health and social care for our citizens,” said Kehoe-O’Sullivan, “and this was a useful opportunity to learn what other countries have achieved in important areas such as; developing tools to help professionals identify when a patient’s condition is deteriorating, improving medication safety and assessing older people who need treatment in the emergency department as quickly and safely as possible”. 

The conference opened with a presentation from Dr Ralph So from the Netherlands, who addressed how the methods employed by the Albert Schweitzer Hospital resulted in real improvements in the quality of care for the deteriorating patient. The main focus of Dr So’s initiative was on early warning scores, rapid response teams and the treatment of sepsis.

Setting up a frailty unit within a hospital and the benefits to the patient was the topic discussed by Mr Paul Harriman, from Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust. Anne-Grete Skjellanger from Norway spoke about how from 2010 to 2013 nearly 40% of avoidable harm in hospitals has been reduced in Norway through the introduction of a patient safety programme that includes medication safety.

The afternoon sessions provided an opportunity for the European delegates to learn from some of the work undertaken in Ireland in; the prevention of healthcare associated infections; rapid response teams; medication safety; and care our of elderly, in particular in relation to the prevention of falls and pressure ulcers.

The Dublin PaSQ conference was part of a network of PaSQ exchange events happening across Europe this October. For more information on the PaSQ initiative visit www.pasq.eu

Further Information: 

For further information please contact:
Sinead Whooley, Communications Manager, Health Information and Quality Authority
Tel: 01 8147488/ 087 9221941 Email: swhooley@hiqa.ie

Notes to the Editor: 

• PaSQ was launched in 2012 with a general aim of contributing to patient safety and good quality of care through cooperation between EU member states, stakeholders and international organisations, with additional focus on patient involvement.
• The end objective is to create a permanent network for quality improvement and patient safety which will work to continuously facilitate the exchange of good practices between health and social care professionals, patient associations and healthcare administrations in Europe.