Regulating to Ensure Patient Safety in Hospitals: Towards a Comprehensive Framework

Abstract

This article critically examines the successes and failures of the current internal and external regulatory regimes for ensuring the delivery of patient safety in public hospitals. It argues that governments should develop a holistic approach to regulation through the enhancement of existing compliance mechanisms in conjunction with some formal regulation to ensure that public hospital systems deliver high standards of service with minimal patient harm. It recommends that a Patient Safety Authority be established in order to assist with the monitoring of incidents and the enforcement of compliance with patient safety standards.

Keywords: Regulatory regimes, patient safety, public hospitals, safety standards

JEL Classification: K10, K20, K32, I18