Patient Safety vis-à-vis Safe Surgery: The Current Perspective

Abstract

Today, patient harm due to unsafe care is a large and growing global public health challenge and is one of the leading causes of death and disability worldwide. Most of this patient harm is avoidable. As countries strive to achieve universal health coverage and the Sustainable Development Goals, the beneficial effects of improved access to health services can be undermined by unsafe care. The benefits of having a strategic and coordinated approach to patient safety, addressing the common causes of harm, and the approaches to preventing it have been recognized by policymakers and political and health leaders worldwide. Patient safety is defined as "A framework of organized activities that creates cultures, processes, procedures, behaviors, technologies, and environments in health care that consistently and sustainably lower risks, reduce the occurrence of avoidable harm, make errors less likely, and reduce the impact of harm when it does occur." Surgical care has been an essential component of health care worldwide for a long. As the incidences of traumatic injuries, cancers, and cardiovascular disease continue to rise, the impact of surgical intervention on public health systems will only continue to swell. Surgery is often one of the significant therapies that can alleviate disabilities and reduce the risk of death from common conditions. Every year, millions of people undergo surgical treatment, and surgical interventions account for an estimated 13% of the world's total disability-adjusted life years (DALYs). While surgical procedures are intended to save lives, unsafe surgical care can result in substantial harm.

Keywords

• disability-adjusted life years
• health care-associated infection
• safe surgery