Dr Sabelile Tenza, a renowned patient safety expert and a researcher in quality and safety in healthcare in the NuMIQ research entity at the North-West University (NWU), led the inaugural Patient Safety Research Colloquium in the Dr Kenneth Kaunda District.
The colloquium took place at the Klerksdorp-Tshepong Hospital complex on Wednesday, 30 October, and it featured esteemed speakers who are rooting for positive patient safety. The conference aimed at empowering frontline healthcare providers, policy makers and quality leaders by sharing patient safety research findings, identifying learning needs, and collaborating with patient safety leaders to design future patient safety interventions.
Dr Nicholin Scheepers, a senior lecturer and clinical programme leader at the NWU School of Nursing, directed the event. Dr Tenza’s keynote address focused on the World Health Organization (WHO) Global Patient Safety Action Plan, and the opportunities for South African public hospitals to achieve these global targets.
Her presentation acknowledged existing policies, and connected the audience to the international quality and safety communities that could keep them up to date with global standings on patient safety and healthcare information. One crucial takeaway from her keynote address is that South Africa is at the forefront of developing policies related to quality and safety. Dr Tenza further emphasised the urgent need for collaboration between academics, clinicians and healthcare leaders to achieve quality safety in healthcare.
Tryphinah Diniso, a quality assurance coordinator at the Klerksdorp-Tshepong complex, reported on the progress of the implementation of the patient safety incident policy in the complex from 2021/22 to date. Diniso’s presentation complemented the research finding of the State of Patient Safety study in the Dr Kenneth Kaunda District. This study was presented by Dr Tenza and her collaborator, Sibongile Dlaba, a Master of Nursing student at the NWU.
The study, funded by the National Research Foundation (NRF), discovered that while there have been a number of advancements in the implementation of the national guidelines for patient safety incident reporting, there is still room for improvement.
In turn, Prof Aaron Abuosi, a professor of Health Policy and Management at the University of Ghana Business School, gave a presentation on Just Culture: Moving away from Blame Culture. He said: “The essence of the just culture concept as it relates to patient safety incidents is to find a balance between a blame-free culture and a punitive culture. Just culture demands that staff may be punished for reckless behaviour, which is a conscious and deliberate action or inaction that results in patient harm. However, it is unfair to punish staff for genuine mistakes that result in patient harm.”
Dr Maureen Tshabalala, a senior director at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI), concluded the conference with a remarkable motivational talk and coaching session. The address
focused on leadership approaches for influencing behavioural changes among teams to encourage a patient safety culture.
Thulane Madonsela (CEO) and Harris Thaba (manager), senior managers at the Klerksdorp-Tshepong Hospital complex, expressed their gratitude for the successful symposium, and they noted several actions that they will initiate going forward.
Dr Tenza exressed her enthusiasm for the collaborations with the district hospitals and stated that the symposium was proof of the supportive learning environments found at the hospitals.
The speakers, from the left are Prof Aaron Abousi, Dr Maureen Tshabalala, Dr Sabelile Tenza, Dr Nicholin Scheepers, and Sbongile Dlaba.
Dr Tenza with the Klerksdorp-Tshepong Hospital Complex Team
