Patrick Gausi, High quality and Operations Director at BAH, stated the COHSASA programme led to improved communication, higher medical outcomes, greater affected person satisfaction, and stronger monetary sustainability.
Malawi’s Ministry of Well being Division spokesperson, Beston Chisamile, publicly recommended BAH and stated he meant to encourage Malawi’s 800 public well being amenities to bear related high quality assessments.
From modest beginnings to nationwide benchmark
Blantyre Adventist Hospital started in 1956 as two outpatient clinics, one dental and one medical. The primary surgical procedures have been carried out in 1962 by a South African surgeon and two Malawian colleagues.
In April 1974, Dr Elton Stecker and his spouse, Dr Rheeta Stecker, opened the hospital to a restricted variety of inpatients. On the time, the power consisted of simply three rooms, with common occupancy of 1 affected person per week.
As providers expanded, admissions got here to incorporate medical, surgical, maternity and paediatric care. Over time, BAH grew to become a most well-liked hospital for residents of Blantyre, together with senior authorities officers and nationwide leaders resembling Dr Hastings Kamuzu Banda, Malawi’s first president.
Right now, BAH is extensively considered one of many nation’s main hospitals, providing paediatric and neonatal intensive care in addition to grownup ICU providers.
High quality enchancment in observe
Patrick Gausi, High quality and Operations Director at BAH, stated the COHSASA programme had led to marked enhancements in inner communication and teamwork.
“Involving non-medical employees in high quality committees gave them a a lot clearer understanding of how medical providers function and what methods are concerned,” he stated. “That perception translated instantly into stronger communication throughout departments.”
A central requirement of the COHSASA programme is the implementation of high quality enchancment challenge (QIP)in all departments. At BAH, one of the crucial impactful tasks centered on enhancing outcomes of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) within the intensive care unit.
Throughout the baseline analysis interval between January and March 2023, solely 18% of CPR makes an attempt within the ICU of the hospital have been profitable. The challenge workforce set a transparent aim: to extend the CPR success fee amongst ICU sufferers from 18% to 60% by June 2023.
Utilizing a fishbone evaluation, the workforce recognized a number of vital gaps. Employees lacked satisfactory expertise in chest compressions, the air flow process and use of a defibrillator. Alarm response occasions have been sluggish, and there was no standardised guidelines for the resuscitation trolley.
“All employees, together with ambulance drivers, have been educated in Fundamental Life Help (BLS) and Superior Cardiac Life Help (ACLS),” Gausi defined. “We additionally addressed gear and course of gaps. Consequently, we at the moment are persistently sustaining CPR success charges above 90%.”
On the conclusion of the challenge, the challenge lead stated:
“This enchancment was a breakthrough for the ICU nursing workforce and the hospital as an entire. It bolstered the significance of robust data and sensible expertise in BLS and ACLS for profitable resuscitation”.
