The government’s Healthy Taiwan Promotion Committee should include representatives of patients, as they are the core of the healthcare system, the Taiwan Alliance of Patients’ Organizations (TAPO) said yesterday, as it called for “improving diagnosis for patient safety.”
Ahead of World Patient Safety Day — celebrated on Sep. 17 — TAPO chairperson Wu Hung-lai (吳鴻來) yesterday said the WHO launched its first ever Patient Safety Rights Charter this year, outlying the fundamental patient safety rights.
The theme for this year’s campaign is “improving diagnosis for patient safety,” raising attention about the importance of accurate and prompt diagnosis, he said, adding that one of the main objectives is to “empower patients and families to actively engage with health workers and healthcare leaders to improve diagnostic processes.”
Photo: Chiu Chih-jou, Taipei Times
Wu said that the WHO’s data showed “the magnitude of diagnostic errors is profound, accounting for nearly 16 percent of preventable harm across health systems,” and that “most adults are likely to face at least one diagnostic error in their lifetime.”
However, while patients are stakeholders in healthcare, their rights are often neglected, he said.
Asked by a reporter about not having representatives of patients in the committee last month, he said Taiwan is a democratic and open society and all stakeholders should participate in the making of policies.
President William Lai (賴清德) presided over the first meeting of the committee at the Presidential Office on Aug. 22. Following some experts’ suggestions that the committee should include representatives of nurses and pharmacists, Lai said they would be invited to future meetings.
Wu said healthcare cannot be discussed without the voices of patients, as every person becomes a patient at some point in their life.
“Having patients on site” is not real participation, he said, adding that they must be allowed to speak and engage in decisionmaking.
Many patients’ organizations have a lot of knowledge and thoughts on healthcare issues and they are able to communicate them, he said.
Taiwan Healthcare Reform Foundation secretary-general Lin Ya-hui (林雅惠) shared some cases of misdiagnosis that the foundation received petitions about over the years, including the removal of a healthy organ due to a cancer misdiagnosis, and delayed diagnoses of strokes or bone fractures.
Such problems might be caused by relatively short outpatient sessions and separation of departments, she said.
The government should expand the mechanisms of comprehensive medical care at hospitals and family physicians, she said.
The government should also help people improve their health literacy and encourage them to see a trusted family physician who knows their long-term health condition, she said.
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