In reaction to a recent spate of medical blunders, the Hospital Authority will organise special hospital patrols to see how well staff members are complying with safety procedures, the health chief said yesterday.
The authority will discuss the details soon with the seven hospital clusters, as Secretary for Food and Health Dr York Chow Yat-ngok yesterday instructed it to improve patient safety.
Under the plan, each hospital cluster would have to set up the teams to conduct 'patients' safety rounds', a medical professional familiar with patient safety projects said last night.
'The teams will be led by senior doctors; they will visit medical wards to examine staff compliance to medication and safety guidelines,' he said.
'For example, they will see if medical workers can carefully handle high-risk medicines, label them correctly and follow all necessary procedures.
'Such on-the-spot audits will be helpful to understand frontline work and find ways for improvement.'
