Improvement measures have been introduced to enhance patient safety, the Hospital Authority's first Progress Report on Sentinel Events says.

They include further clarification of the reporting criteria for the sentinel events policy, enhancement of the supporting processes, and implementation of effective risk-reduction measures.

The authority has also enhanced the safety culture and will conduct a survey on patient safety culture to enhance the understanding of the organisational factors that have an impact on patient safety.

Detailed results

From October 1 to March 31, a total of 23 sentinel events were reported, among which the most common event was patient suicide, which resulted in 12 cases of patient death.

There were also five events with retained instruments or other material after surgery or interventional procedure which required re-operation or further surgical procedure.

Another three cases involved the wrong patients or body parts during surgery or interventional procedures. All eight patients recovered without permanent injury.

Experience sharing

The authority's Chief Executive Shane Solomon said the organisation will learn from the reported events and change systems and processes for greater patient safety.

"Important lessons learned from the reported events have been shared among all HA staff in the bi-monthly newsletter HA Risk Alert and appropriate risk-reduction strategies are being implemented to reduce the recurrence of similar incidents," he added.

For more details of the report, click here.