Patient safety not a priority: Survey

58% nurses pressured to compromise on safety practices for efficiency, says report

- ASHISH SRIVASTAVA

WHAT should be more important for healthcare institutions, efficiency or patient safety? A recent study conducted by the National Accreditation Board for Hospitals (NABH), a constituent of the Quality Council of India (QCI) indicates that patient safety may have taken the backseat, shedding light on critical safety challenges in Indian hospitals.

The study findings revealed that around 58% of nurses felt pressured to compromise patient safety over efficiency of hospitals. 35% of them complained of inadequate staff while about 32% blamed poor patient safety norms for ineffective patient safety.

Doctors echoed similar concern, with 18% of them claiming they are pressured to compromise on patient safety over efficiency. 21% blame inadequate staff at health institutes as significant challenge to the patient safety.

On the other hand, hospital managements' perspective focused on the challenge of balancing speed of services and safety (37%), and a limited focus on patients' rights (31%).