SEHA Organizes Unique Patient Safety Training Workshop

A number of Healthcare Quality and Risk Management professionals with Abu Dhabi Health Service Company (SEHA) recently attended a weeklong “Root Cause Analysis” training workshop held at the Millennium Hotel, Abu Dhabi. The workshop, which was hosted by SEHA, was attended by Senior Corporate staff as well as the Directors and Managers of Quality and Clinical Risk from SEHA healthcare facilities.

The five-day workshop was structured using a “Train-the-Trainer” program and focused specifically on understanding Root Cause Analysis through a Human Factors Approach. The focus of the course involved identifying and understanding the underlying causes of patient safety incidents and determining the necessary corrective actions to minimize the likelihood of re-occurrence in the future. The course provides training based upon teamwork concepts developed and proven in the industry, including incident reports, case studies, simulation exercises and group discussions.

Root Cause Analysis (RCA) is a class of problem solving methods used to identify the root causes of problems or events. It is a discipline widely used in production-based failure analysis and safety programs, numerous engineering disciplines, and is widely credited with helping make airline travel one of the safest modes of transportation available. The program, as presented to the attendees from SEHA, is known as System Based RCA and has been highly successful in Continuous Quality Improvement Programs to reduce errors and enhance organizational effectiveness.

By electing for the weeklong structure, attendees not only developed their own expertise, but learned how to teach the course materials to a wide range of multidisciplinary healthcare staff through an ongoing training program across all SEHA healthcare facilities.

According to SEHA, root cause analysis training is incredibly important in making sure that immediate risks are removed and that incidents do not escalate to a more severe level. Dr. Mariam Al Mazrouei, Manager of Clinical Affairs for SEHA, says that one of SEHA’s core strategic objectives is to continually improve patient safety and build patient trust in the healthcare system. “We have long since realized that it is not enough to simply react to patient safety incidents,” comments Dr. Mazrouei. “We must be proactive, ensuring that lessons are learned and that incidents that put patients at risk are not repeated.”

Ms. Bernadette Kelly, Senior Clinical Affairs Specialist at SEHA, reiterated that one of the most important issues in healthcare today is ensuring the safety of patients. “We aim to adopt innovative approaches to patient safety and believe that learning from other industries–such as the aviation industry–can assist us in achieving our goal.”