"HA Risk Alert" latest issue published
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The following is issued on behalf of the Hospital Authority:

     The 38th issue of "HA Risk Alert" was published today (July 31) by the Hospital Authority (HA) as a risk management and communication initiative to further strengthen the reporting and monitoring of medical incidents in public hospitals.

     The HA spokesman said the Chinese terminology for "sentinel events" and "serious untoward events" was changed on July 1 to align with the official terms used by the Government in its Regulation of Private Healthcare Facilities Consultation Document released earlier.

     In the first quarter of 2015, there were 11 sentinel events reported in public hospitals, including five cases of retained consumables and instruments, five cases of patient suicide and one case of maternal death. Among the reported serious untoward events, there were 21 medication incidents and five cases of patient misidentification.

     "Subsequent to incident review and analysis of root causes of these incidents, important lessons of patient safety are identified, while recommendations are made and shared in this publication to avoid similar events in future," the spokesman said.

     The publication has been distributed to all healthcare professionals in public hospitals for continuous quality improvement purposes. It can also be accessed by the public at www.ha.org.hk/riskalert.

     "HA Risk Alert" is published on a quarterly basis and posted on the HA website every last working Friday in the months of January, April, July and October. The next issue is scheduled to be published on October 30.

Ends/Friday, July 31, 2015
Issued at HKT 16:45

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