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The following is issued on behalf of the Hospital Authority:
The 15th issue of "HA Risk Alert" is published today (March 26) by the Hospital Authority (HA) as a risk management and communication initiative to further strengthen the reporting and monitoring of adverse incidents in public hospitals.
This latest issue charted the distribution of the nine types of sentinel events over a two-year period. Furthermore, three events of retained instrument, device and consumables in patients in the past months were highlighted together with recommendations made subsequent to in-depth root cause analysis during incident investigation.
In this issue, the effective outcomes of two risk reduction programmes were shared, including Tuen Mun Hospital's safe handling of specimen bottles and a corporate-wide surgical safety checklist. Some common pitfalls both in overseas and local healthcare settings were also brought up to enhance staff vigilance.
The publication has been distributed to all health care professionals in public hospitals for continuous quality improvement purpose. It can also be accessed by the public at www.ha.org.hk/riskalert .
"HA Risk Alert" is regularly published and posted on the HA website every last working Friday in alternating (odd) months. The next issue will be published on May 28.
Ends/Friday, March 26, 2010
Issued at HKT 18:50
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