Chasing Zero – A Heroic Effort For Patient Safety

By: Barrie Quappé RN, BSN – Consultant/Director:

Bad things do happen to famous people. Dennis Quaid and his wife experienced healthcare harm for the first time when their twins were born. The twins appeared healthy but they took a turn for the worst and were re-admitted to the hospital. There the medical team overdosed them not once, but twice with the blood thinner heparin. Fortunately for the Quaids, the twins pulled through – many others are not so lucky.

In Cayman we all saw the media reports relating to a young lady who was working here: “There is also the case of British national Kate Clayton, who was found by a UK coroner to have died as a result of a failed tracheotomy performed by a doctor employed with the HSA. It was announced last year that the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service is investigating the circumstances surrounding her death. “(Content Editor, 2016) The same article is reporting the fact that a locally sitting judge has ruled that the Health Services Authority is immune to Malpractice suits. The bottom line is there are incidents of healthcare harm everywhere including here but what is the medical community doing to combat this?

The Health Practice Commission set the National Standards for healthcare facilities in the Cayman Islands and they include requiring policies for patient-centered care which acknowledges an important piece to solving healthcare harm. Medical Practitioners need to listen to patients and family’s feedback following a healthcare harm incident. It is the only way they will get the full picture and thereby be able to factually assess how to prevent it from occurring again. Ramona Davis speaks eloquently to that in this brief clip:

In fact, there are heroes on the global stage fighting healthcare harm and plenty of resources. Just plan to watch the movie Chasing Zero (TMIT-Discovery, 2010) and you will gain a plethora of knowledge on this subject which, I hope will give us all hope that we here in Cayman can amp up our own fight to get back on the path to Zero harm.

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Chasing Zero Full Video

Relevant Links

• TMIT-Discovery (2010), Chasing Zero: Winning the War on Healthcare Harm
• TMIT (2011) Ramona Davis: Healthcare Needs Patient Stories and Solutions: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5NbQ2DSTe4
• Content Editor (2016) ‘HSA Doctors Immune to Malpractice Suits’, Cayman Reporter: http://www.caymanreporter.com/2016/02/25/hsa-doctors-immune-malpractice-suits/