The public healthcare is an integral part of national development.in order for the country to move forward in terms of development the citizenry must be of good health. As a result the public health sector has become the center of debate in terms of patient service and patient safety while visiting these facilities.in a public health facility patient safety is very important. This is because public health facilities tend to get a lot of clientele on a daily basis. As a result accidents incidents of confusion are likely to occur. As such is the case it is very important to ensure that patient safety is upheld to the highest standards. Public health facilities are normally crowded areas for lack of a better term. As a result it is very important to ensure that all these people are safe. This can help to save the lives of tens or even hundreds of people who frequent public health facilities on a near daily basis.
In a public health facility assurance of patient safety is a concept easier said than done. Quality is also a challenge in public health facilities. This is because the staff of the health facilities are always in a rush so as to be able to keep up with the large number of patients who frequent public health facilities on a daily basis. In the event of an emergency the staff can get overwhelmed by the number of patients streaming into the facility. As a result the quality of patient service is likely to go down as the staff stretches so as to be able to attend to every person in need of service (Kronenfeld, 2004). The large number of people in public health facilities are also a challenge as far as patient safety is concerned. This is because with a large number of people it can get very hard for the staff to keep track of everyone in the health facility. As a result the staff ends up in a situation where they cannot by all means guarantee patient safety with a hundred percent level of confidence.
In order to improve quality and patient service in public health facilities it is very important to have an adequate number of staff members. This means that the staff never gets overwhelmed by the clientele and as a result the quality of service does not go down. It is also very important for public health facilities to establish links with each other. This will help them deal with an emergency situation more effectively as they will be able to get help and services from other public health facilities. Installation of surveillance cameras is also very important as it will enable the health facility staff to keep track of all people within the premises of the health facility and this will improve patient safety. Patient safety can also be improved by ensuring that all staff members are qualified for their respective jobs. This is important because a qualified person is less likely to hurt a patient or treat them incorrectly (Shaw, 2010).
Public health facilities receive oversight from the state government. Their chief source of funding is the state government since they are nonprofit organizations. In order for any changes to be made the state government must first be consulted and its approval sought by the relevant parties. The state government is a key decision maker as far as public health facilities are concerned.
References
Kronenfeld, J. J., & Kronenfeld, M. R. (2004). Healthcare reform in America a reference handbook. Santa Barbara, Calif.: ABC-CLIO.
Shaw, G. M. (2010). The healthcare debate. Santa Barbara, Calif.: Greenwood.
