Chronic illnesses often affect people for many years and require continuous, well-coordinated medical and nursing care. This makes safe treatment protocols, clear communication, and close collaboration among all healthcare professionals involved in patient care all the more important.
At GPR Klinikum, patient safety is also a top priority. From admission through diagnosis and treatment to discharge, numerous measures work together to prevent risks and ensure the best possible care.
World Patient Safety Day provides an opportunity to focus on this important task and to further raise awareness of patient safety among staff, patients, and their families.
As a visible sign of its participation, the GPR Klinikum building will be illuminated in orange—the official color of patient safety—from Wednesday evening through Friday morning. Since 2019, GPR Klinikum has been a full member of the Aktionsbündnis Patientensicherheit e.V. (Patient Safety Action Alliance) and has been working intensively ever since to raise public awareness of patient safety.
This year’s activities will focus on a wide range of information and counseling services for various target groups. In the lounge area across from Café Stolz, the Clinical Risk Management team, the Infection Control department, and the Diabetes Counseling service will be providing information at an information booth from 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. and from 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. The Risk Management team will provide brochures, flyers, and promotional materials to explain key safety tools such as the 5R rule (right patient, right medication, right dosage, right route of administration, and right time) as well as surgical checklists. A special focus will be on “patient empowerment” as defined by the WHO Action Plan, which aims to actively involve patients as informed partners in their treatment process. This includes, among other things, the proper technique for measuring blood sugar, important aspects of administering insulin injections, and how to properly manage hypoglycemia.
The campaign day is also visible on the wards: Nursing staff distribute informational brochures directly to patients along with their meal trays. The nutrition management team demonstrates how a targeted diet—such as ensuring adequate protein intake in cases of malnutrition—contributes to the safety of people with chronic illnesses. The topic of hygiene is addressed at the booth in the entrance area through posters on patient and staff hygiene.
In addition, the Pharmacy & Oncology department provides information on the cross-sectoral “Plus+” counseling service in the oncology outpatient clinic, with a focus on medication safety and medication management upon discharge. The standards developed by the ADKA for the three key phases of pharmaceutical care in the hospital (ADKA Standards – ADKA Publications – KPH) also make an important contribution to medication safety. Two employees of the GPR Clinic also contributed to the development of these standards: Maika Bester, Head of the Hospital Pharmacy and Central Purchasing as well as Organizational Director of the Center for Hematology and Oncology, and pharmacist Dr. Bianca Weyer. In this way, the GPR Clinic directly contributes its practical experience to the further development of uniform standards for safe pharmaceutical care in hospitals.
“The safety of our patients is our top priority at the GPR Clinic—365 days a year, of course. World Patient Safety Day offers us a valuable opportunity to raise our awareness of this critical issue and to demonstrate how important a culture of safety in practice and the active involvement of patients are for sustainable treatment success,” emphasizes GPR Managing Director Achim Neyer.
By participating in World Patient Safety Day, GPR Klinikum underscores its ongoing commitment to implementing the highest safety standards and actively involving patients in the treatment process.
About World Patient Safety Day:
Initiated by the World Health Organization (WHO), this annual event takes place on September 17. The goal is to raise global awareness of patient safety and to invite all stakeholders—from patients and their families to healthcare professionals—to engage in an open dialogue about safety in healthcare.