Eighty hospitals in Pakistan are implementing the “Patient Safety Friendly Hospital Initiative” (PSFHI), a WHO-led programme that puts into practice a harmonized set of evidence-based patient safety standards to which hospitals should adhere to ensure safer care. It offers a platform for integrating patient safety priorities where infection prevention and control (IPC), including hand hygiene and standard precautions, are critical components — a crucial and timely asset in a COVID-19-stricken world.
Pakistan has recently developed and launched National Guidelines for Infection Prevention and Control and inaugurated a new Center for Occupational and Patient Safety (COPS) at the National Institute of Health (NIH). The centre provides strategic direction for health professionals to drive transformational changes in the neglected domain of occupational safety.
Nurses are critical to ensuring quality care. They engage and empower patients to speak up on their own behalf, and also enforce hand hygiene measures with colleagues from all levels of the hospital hierarchy.
Many hospitals across the country are now conducting regular education both for patients and health workers on hand hygiene.
Read the full story: Nurses and midwives are critical to teaching hand hygiene in Pakistan