Medical expert calls for introduction of clinical protocols to improve patient safety

Professor Bill Runciman from the University of South Australia believes more can be done to protect patients.

"An issue that's often overlooked is the tension that exists between productivity and safety. In healthcare the problem is that there is desensitisation against things going wrong," he said.

"Many of these things are preventable and in a cost effective way. Enough isn't being done, and the problem is that 1,000 individual things need fixing. Clinical standards and Standard Operating Procedures are needed," he concluded.

Professor Runciman is at the forefront of looking at ways to improve the safety of patients in hospitals.

He believes that drastic changes are needed to improve the situation, and more can be done by many of those working in the medical profession.

"We need a different approach but there is no easy answer," he said. "Can it be fixed in five years? It's much more complicated. Patients are vulnerable, but one of the major ones is the behaviour of people and their resistance to change," he added.

Elaborating on this point Professor Runciman said that some individuals working in the healthcare sector were not open to radical changes.

Rather, the perception is that the medical profession is a unique entity, unlike any other profession.

"The healthcare profession has been the authority for last fifty years. People are intrinsically pushing against change," he said. "This is maybe not conscious, but if change is brought in, the mystique disappears," he added.

Professor Runciman will use his time at the ADMC to explain that resistance or not, the introduction of clinical regulations is critical for the future well being of the healthcare sector.

"We need standard operating procedures for surgery and everything, but there's this resistance," he said. "There are no rules so there are no violations. Regulations are the way forward and that's what I will talk about in Abu Dhabi."

The Abu Dhabi Medical Congress will take place at the National Exhibition Centre from October 26-28.