'Medication Without Harm' theme for World Patient Safety Day at local hospital

The Midland Regional Hospital Mullingar (RHM) marked World Patient Safety Day, Friday 16 September, with a display of information for staff and patients.

The theme of the day for 2022 was 'Medication Without Harm', to which the RHM Pharmacy Department responded with style.

Dearbhla O'Sullivan, chief pharmacist, and Claire Browne, senior pharmacist, distributed their new Direct Oral Anti-Coagulant (DOAC) Dosing Quick Guide, which they have designed as a credit-card sized handy guide to these commonly prescribed drugs.

These have been well received by prescribers, said the HSE.

The pharmacy department also distributed the Know Check Ask leaflets and an explainer guide on how to utilise the patient safety tool most effectively.

Other patient safety messages were highlighted by Paula Turner, clinical risk manager, and Roseanne Smith, clinical audit lead.

Staff were interested to hear about the HSE Patient Safety Strategy and the 16 tips; how incidents are reviewed within a Just Culture context and the importance of the Clinical Audit cycle.

Support services were represented by Karl de Lacy, hospital non-clinical services manager, and Lisa Meyler, assistant support service manager, who had a popular stand and well-designed poster which showed the different elements that contribute to staff and patient safety, and a most welcome raffle prize!

Another popular stand was from the blood transfusion laboratory, where Carol Cantwell, chief medical scientist, and the team explained the extensive safety processes behind producing the lifesaving units with which all clinical staff are familiar.

Representatives from Giveblood.ie were delighted to receive commitments from a large number of staff to donate blood.

To finish the day, RHM was lit with orange lights on the Friday evening to again show their commitment to the global challenge of maintaining patient safety in a busy and complex environment.