Browsing by Author "Jämsä, Juho"

Objectives: To determine if and in what ways serious patient safety incidents differ from non-serious patient safety incidents. Methods: Statistical analysis was performed on patient safety incident reports that were reported in 2015 in Finland’s largest hospital district (Helsinki and Uusimaa, HUS). Reports were divided into two groups: non-serious incidents and serious incidents. Differences between groups were studied from several types of categorically divided information. Results: Of the total amount of reports (15 863) 1 % were serious incidents (175). Serious and non-serious incidents differed significantly from each other. Serious incidents concerning laboratory, imaging or medical equipment were more common. On the other hand incidents concerning medication, infusion, blood transfusion, were less frequent. In serious incidents the proportion of doctors reporting was greater and contributing factors were better recognized, the most common of them being working of procedures. Conclusions: In the future, special attention should be given to the particular aspects of serious patient safety incidents, such as safe use of medical equipment, training and handling of procedures. Root cause analysis is an effective way to handle serious incidents and enables the prevention of their reoccurrence. However, a systematic follow of the root cause analysis should be developed.