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Ministry of Health, Sri Lanka conducted a two – day National Convention on Healthcare Quality and Safety to celebrate the World Patient Safety Day. The first day of the commemoration held on the 15^th of September, was more towards an academic focus. Two plenary sessions were held focusing on patient engagement, under the themes of ‘Medication Safety for Patient engagement’ and ‘patient safety for patient engagement’, where an expert group of speakers shared their thoughts, and these were complemented by a guest speech by an eminent Physician, Dr. Ananda Wijewickrama. The second plenary included a talk by a member of a patient group, expressing their empowerment through a ‘Diabetic forum’. Abstracts submitted on healthcare quality and safety by hospitals throughout the country were presented as oral presentations and posters, and the best were selected and appraised. The event was graced by high level Ministry of Health officials including the Additional Secretary Medical Services, Dr. Sunil de Alwis and Deputy Director General (Medical Services)-I Dr. Lal Panapitiya, many heads of healthcare institutions, various categories of healthcare workers and patients.

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A team from the Directorate of Healthcare Quality and Safety visited Base Hospital Walasmulla and the RDHS Office Matara on 2^nd of June 2023. The study team included the Deputy Director Dr. Dewanee Ranaweera, Consultant Community Physicians, Medical Officers, Development Officers and junior staff members.

Visit to BH Walasmulla

The DHQS team first visited the Base Hospital Walasmulla. The team was warmly welcomed by the Medical Superintendent Dr. Ranga Chandrasena and his staff. A PowerPoint presentation was done by Dr. Chandrasena, explaining the history of the hospital and how it has progressed to its current status since. The support received by the hospital from donors in the area was emphasized during his presentation. He also mentioned some of the best practices at the hospital in his presentation, which was a good guide for the visit to follow. The Deputy Director DHQS praised Dr. Chandrasena and the hospital team for the impressive work done by them.

The DHQS divided into two groups and observed the different settings of the hospital. They were able to witness many quality initiatives and best practices that were followed in the hospital.

The activities of the Quality Management Unit of the hospital were observed in detail. The Kaizen initiatives and best practices carried out at the hospital were explained, and the reports of the activities done by the WIT Teams were shown. The incident reporting mechanism at the hospital was explained and the reports filed were shown.

The digitalized system at the Out-patient Department (OPD) was explained and shown. It was functioning very well and was saving a lot of time and effort for the staff and the patients alike.

The other areas of the hospitals including the IPC Unit, newly developed ICU, laboratories, wards of different specialties, ward for the clergy, dispensary, stores, record room, waste collection area, CSSD, office and the maintenance unit, were observed.

The green initiatives and energy saving initiatives implemented at the hospital were appreciative. A fire safety plan was available at the hospital.

Some of the 5S and kaizen initiatives implemented were preparation of a reusable sharps bin, preparation of bags for collecting investigation reports, colour coding system at the drug stores, proper labelling of drugs at the dispensary, wards and ICU, and instillation of directional boards.

Visit to the Regional Director of Health Services Office - Matara

The DHQS team visited the RDHS Office Matara after that. The Deputy RDHS Dr. H. L. S. Chathurika, Quality Medical Officer Dr. Chamila and the team at the RDHS Office welcomed the DHQS team warmly. A series of presentations were done representing their respective units of the RDHS Office, by the MO/ MCH, Regional Epidemiologist, Quality Medical Officer, MO/ Mental Health, MO/ Planning, Accountant, ICT Officer and many other officers, explaining the valuable work done by them during the recent years. The work carried out was much appreciated by the DHQS team. Due to the time constraints, it was not possible to observe all the good practices and initiatives by visiting each unit specifically. The shared initiatives taken towards developing the information management systems and using of the resources efficiently were all appreciative.

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Celebration of World Patient Safety Day 2023

Sri Lanka 

Sri Lanka has joined the rest of the world in celebrating the World patient Safety Day since 2019 when it was first established. This year, Sri Lanka embarked on a journey to celebrate this important event with multiple activities including a two-day programme consisting of technical sessions, presentations of best practices and abstracts, and a national event to commemorate the day.

This year, in line with the theme and the slogan announced by the World Health Organization (WHO) for 2023, the World Patient Safety Day was celebrated in Sri Lanka under the theme of ‘Engaging patients for patient safety’ and the slogan of ‘Elevate the voice of patients!’.

Ministry of Health, Sri Lanka conducted a two – day National Convention on Healthcare Quality and Safety to celebrate the World Patient Safety Day. The first day of the commemoration held on the 15^th of September, was more towards an academic focus. Two plenary sessions were held focusing on patient engagement, under the themes of ‘Medication Safety for Patient engagement’ and ‘patient safety for patient engagement’, where an expert group of speakers shared their thoughts, and these were complemented by a guest speech by an eminent Physician, Dr. Ananda Wijewickrama. The second plenary included a talk by a member of a patient group, expressing their empowerment through a ‘Diabetic forum’. Abstracts submitted on healthcare quality and safety by hospitals throughout the country were presented as oral presentations and posters, and the best were selected and appraised. The event was graced by high level Ministry of Health officials including the Additional Secretary Medical Services, Dr. Sunil de Alwis and Deputy Director General (Medical Services)-I Dr. Lal Panapitiya, many heads of healthcare institutions, various categories of healthcare workers and patients.

The second day of the event held on the 16^th of September marked the National Celebration of the World Patient Safety Day. The event was graced by the presence of the Director General of Health Services Dr. Asela Gunawardena and the WHO Country Representative for Sri Lanka, Dr. Alaka Singh. Many other distinguished guests attended this national event which comprised of an interesting line up of events including the keynote address by Emeritus Professor Saroj Jayasinghe, addresses by Dr. Asela Gunawardena, Dr. Alaka Singh, Dr. Lal Panapitiya and Dr. Dewanee Ranaweera – Director Healthcare Quality and Safety, a video clip on a patient’s experience in patient empowerment, and presentation and awarding of projects which were selected as the best projects under the selection of best practices in healthcare institutions. The Hon. Minister of Health sent his best wishes for the event through a message, which was read out to the gathering by the Director General of Health Services. In addition, the Director Maternal and Child Health Dr. Chithramalee de Silva also addressed the audience on the maternal and newborn care quality assessment, which is being carried out, and the best performing hospitals in this regard were awarded.

Prior to the event, the healthcare institutions across the country were sensitized and made aware about the theme of the World Patient Safety Day and the activities they could carry out in this regard. A letter was issued under the signature of the Director General of Health Services informing them about this. The healthcare institutions conducted activities going in line with the theme at the institutional level. Best practices on healthcare quality and safety were invited by the Directorate of Healthcare Quality and Safety (DHQS) from the healthcare institutions, and there was a very positive and enthusiastic response, with more than a hundred entries being received covering both Line Ministry and Provincial Health Ministry institutions. Through a stringent process of shortlisting and judging by an independent panel of judges, the best projects were selected to be awarded at the national event.

A media release was issued by the DHQS to create awareness of the public on this important day and its significance. Multiple categories of health workers were sensitized on patient engagement through workshops. Posters shared by the WHO on the theme were disseminated among hospitals to be displayed. Banners were displayed at the national event.

In line with the theme for this year’s WPSD, the DHQS also initiated the establishment of a Patients for Patient Safety network for Sri Lanka in August 2023.       

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Annual Healthcare Quality & Safety Bulletin 2019,2020,2021

Recently Directorate of Healthcare Quality & Safety published the Annual Healthcare Quality & Safety Bulletin 2019,2020 & 2021.

The Directorate of Healthcare Quality and Safety (DHQS) functions as the national focal point that implements the healthcare quality assurance programme of the country and it was commissioned in the year 2012.

It functions under the theme of ‘A centrally driven, locally lead, clinically oriented, patient-centered, continuous quality improvement’.

 its activities were carried out according to the National Policy on Healthcare Quality and Safety (2015).

Performance of DHQS during 2019, 2020 and 2021 is arranged according to the seven key result areas of the National Policy on Healthcare Quality and Safety.

The COVID-19 pandemic situation which prevailed in 2020 and 2021 with country lockdowns, movement restrictions, etc. adversely affected conducting some of the planned activities.

However, maximum efforts were taken to conduct them, sometimes with certain modifications e.g., conducting training programmes and meetings virtually.  

Refer-Annual Healthcare Quality & Safety Bulletin 2019,2020,2021(available under Reports Section)

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