{
  "id": 8351821,
  "title": "Patient safety must extend across entire NCD care journey – FOCOS Hospital’s orthopaedics chief",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/19/patient-safety-must-extend-across-entire-ncd-care-journey-focos",
  "topic": "health",
  "section": "Health & Medicine",
  "published": "2026-09-19T01:36:57.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "MyJoyOnline Ghana",
    "slug": "myjoyonline-ghana",
    "url": "https://www.myjoyonline.com/patient-safety-must-extend-across-entire-ncd-care-journey-focos-hospitals-orthopaedics-chief/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Healthcare professionals have been urged by Dr Arthur Sackeyfio, the Head of Orthopaedics at FOCOS Hospital in Accra, to view patient safety as a collective responsibility that spans from diagnosis to post-treatment follow-up. With non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as hypertension, diabetes, cardiovascular illnesses, cancer, and chronic respiratory diseases posing a growing health burden, Sackeyfio emphasized the need for heightened safety measures at every phase of patient care during his welcome address at FOCOS Hospital's panel discussion on the World Patient Safety Day theme: \"Safe Care for Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs).\" He urged providers to ensure that patients receive appropriate treatment at the right time, encompassing accurate diagnosis, appropriate medication, effective monitoring, efficient communication, proper documentation, and timely follow-ups. Sackeyfio stressed the significance of preventive strategies, including health education, regular screenings, healthy lifestyles, appropriate vaccinations, and assisting patients and their families in managing risk factors. He highlighted the importance of coordination among various healthcare professionals and departments during patient transitions, from consultations to laboratory work, pharmacy visits, imaging procedures, admission, discharge, and follow-ups, as each transition presents an opportunity to enhance or undermine patient safety. He called for enhanced teamwork and communication among all healthcare staff, including doctors, nurses, pharmacists, administrative teams, support personnel, and management. Sackeyfio also encouraged patients to take an active role in their own safety by asking questions, understanding their conditions and medications, participating in care decisions, and raising concerns when needed. He advocated for improved medication safety, clinical communication, and handovers, accurate documentation, patient identification, continuous monitoring, and follow-ups. He encouraged healthcare institutions to utilize audits, incident reports, patient feedback, and quality-improvement data to identify and address potential risks. Additionally, Sackeyfio urged the creation of a healthcare environment where professionals feel comfortable speaking up about safety concerns, treating incidents and near-misses as opportunities for learning and system improvement rather than mere blame assignments. He emphasized that World Patient Safety Day should inspire healthcare institutions and professionals to integrate patient safety into their daily practices, viewing it as an ongoing journey of learning, improvement, and vigilance rather than a final destination.",
  "summary": "Healthcare providers have been urged to treat patient safety as a shared responsibility that extends from diagnosis and treatment to monitoring, discharge and follow-up. Head of Orthopaedics at FOCOS Hospital in Accra, Dr Arthur Sackeyfio, who gave the advice, said the growing burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), including hypertension, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, cancer and chronic…",
  "key_points": [
    "Patient safety must be collective responsibility from diagnosis to follow-up",
    "Non-communicable diseases pose growing health burden",
    "Enhanced teamwork and communication among healthcare professionals needed"
  ],
  "editors_take": "Emphasizing patient safety as a collective responsibility across the care journey for non-communicable diseases shifts healthcare providers' focus from isolated incidents to comprehensive, coordinated care.",
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}