Here are the factors undermining patient safety in Ghana - Dr Francis Addai

Head of Medical Services at FOCOS Orthopaedic Hospital, Dr Francis Addai, has said that patient misidentification, poor communication, medication errors, and weak infection prevention remain major gaps undermining patient safety in Ghana’s healthcare system, particularly affecting newborns and children.

Speaking at an event to commemorate World Patient Safety Day on Monday, September 17, 2025, Dr Addai explained that errors in identifying patients during hospital visits, whether at registration, in the laboratory, or at the pharmacy can expose children to risk.

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The family physician noted that poor communication between healthcare providers and caregivers remains a leading factor in unsafe health practices.

"The gaps within the healthcare facility has to do with sometimes wrong tagging of patients and education. So, when you read through the patient's journey within the hospital, right from registration, the child going to see a doctor, the child going to the lab, the child going to the pharmacy for medications and if we (health professionals) don't identify that child well, and we give patients a management plan, or laboratory results to a different patient that can cause danger or unsafe practice.

"Another area that has been shown to compromise patient safety has been poor communication between healthcare providers, the healthcare providers, and the caregiver," he noted.

Touching on medication, he pointed out that errors in drug administration have historically caused more harm than good.

"We (health professionals) want to make sure that we are avoiding medication errors. In the area of surgery, we want to ensure that we are offering the correct surgery or the correct procedure to the correct person and at the correct times," he noted.

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Dr Addai stressed the need for infection prevention, warning that it exposes children to life-threatening conditions.

"Infection has led to a lot of death among these newborns and children,” he emphasised.

He noted that children are entitled to safe and quality care when they visit hospitals, stressing that World Patient Safety Day serves as a reminder for stakeholders to close existing gaps in the health system.

The event brought together experts from various medical fields to shed light on the risks faced by newborns and children in health care and advocate for safe and respectful care for them.

The theme for this year's World Patient Safety Day is “Safe Care for Every Newborn and Every Child”.

JKB/VPO

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