Healthcare has become more complex, with the use of new technologies, medicines and treatments, which may potentially harm patients. — AFP
British medical doctor Cyril Chantler wrote in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) in 1998 that “Medicine used to be simple, ineffective, and relatively safe. It is now complex, effective, and potentially dangerous. The mystical authority of the doctor used to be essential for practice. Now we need to be open and work in partnership with our colleagues in healthcare and with our patients.”
The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that one in 10 patients are harmed while receiving hospital care in developed countries; that of every 100 hospitalised patients at any given time, seven in developed and 10 in developing countries are harmed; that the likelihood of being harmed by air travel is more than one in a million, but is one in 300 for healthcare; and that medication errors cost an estimated US$42bil (RM180.75bil) annually.
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