Other documents in the field of quality and safety

National Strategy for Health Quality and Safety
Monitoring of Sentinel Events
Reports on Patient Safety
Accreditation and Certification
Health Care Quality Program
Quality Management in Slovenian Hospitals

 

 

National Strategy for Health Quality and Safety

In 2010, the Ministry of Health published the National Strategy for Health Quality and Safety (2010-2015). The purpose of the strategy is to efficiently develop systematic and professional activities for the continuous improvement of healthcare treatment and patient safety. The strategy includes four strategic goals: the development of systematic quality and safety management; the development of safety and quality culture; the establishment of an education and a training system in the field of quality and safety; the development of systems for improving successful and efficient health care.

 

 

 

 

Monitoring of Sentinel Events

In 2002, the Ministry of Health established the System of Monitoring Sentinel Events. These include: the most severe adverse events, such as unexpected death, major permanent loss of a body function, suicide of a patient in a health-care institution, substitution of a newborn infant, hemolytical transfusion reaction after the transfusion of blood or blood products due to non-matching of major blood groups, surgical procedures performed on the wrong patient or wrong body part, suspicion of a criminal offence.

The institution in which the sentinel event occurred shall report the event to the Ministry of Health, conduct an analysis of the origin of causes, and prepare an emergency response plan, primarily to establish the systemic causes of the event and possibilities of taking action in order to prevent a further occurrence of such events.  Based on the analyses received, the Ministry of Health proposes initiatives to improve systems for all relevant health-care institutions.
                           

 

 

 

Reports on Patient Safety

In 2006, the obligation of health-care providers to monitor six quality indicators and implement at least two new clinical directives per year in their institutions was introduced for the first time in the General Agreement.   

In 2010, an extended range of more than 70 quality indicators was introduced for the first time. At the same time, the Manual on quality indicators with detailed methodological instructions for monitoring of such indicators was published.

Health-care institutions publish quarterly on their websites the results of the monitoring of certain quality indicators, i.e.: 

 

 

• pressure ulcers, 
• falls of patients,
• efficiency of work in operating theatres,
• MRSA and
• other.

                   

 

 

Accreditation and Certification

The accreditation of healthcare institutions is a formal procedure whereby an external institution evaluates and assesses how a health-care institution complies with prepared and published health quality and safety standards for the purpose of continuously improving the quality and safety of medical treatment.

In Slovenia, the accreditation of health-care institutions is voluntary, and it is recommended that this be carried out by internationally recognised accreditation institutions. The Ministry of Health continuously encourages and monitors the accreditation of Slovenian health-care institutions. The adoption of the Model for the establishment of an accreditation system for health care institutions in Slovenia in 2011 resulted in the unification of the approach and guidelines of health-care organisations in the field of the accreditation of health-care institutions and procedures for implementing international standards of medical treatment as a basis for obtaining accreditation. 

In the framework of establishing and implementing internationally recognised quality systems, some health-care institutions have already obtained a certificate from an internationally recognised accreditation body, and other internationally recognised certificates or awards.

List of accredited health-care institutions
                                       

 

 

Health Care Quality Program

In 2010, the Ministry of Health published the National Strategy for Health Quality and Safety (2010-2015). The purpose of the strategy is to efficiently develop systematic and professional activities to continuously improve health-care treatment and patient safety. The strategy includes four strategic goals, i.e.:

 

 

• development of systematic quality and safety management,
• development of a safety and quality culture,
• establishment of an education and training system in the field of quality and safety, and
• development of systems for improving the efficiency and effectiveness of health care.

 

 

Quality Management in Slovenian Hospitals

In their annual reports, public hospitals must prepare a professional efficiency assessment of quality and safety, which shall be made publicly available. In 2013, the Ministry of Health analysed the reports of twelve health-care institutions and published the document Quality Management in Slovenian Hospitals, Findings on quality and safety, based on 2011 annual reports from hospitals.

Hospitals are obliged to publish quarterly on their websites data on quality indicators for a certain period, and to prepare a professional efficiency assessment of quality and safety, which shall also be made publicly available.

List of other documents and regulations:

 

 

• Health Services Act
• ZLD
• General Practitioners Services Act
• Patient Rights Act
• Rules on the requirements to be met by the persons engaged in private health activities
• Rules on keeping the register of private health care workers
• Rules on the register of physicians
• Rules on the verification procedure concerning healthcare programmes and services carried out in health care and health resort services
• Rules concerning the requirements to be met and the procedure to acquire the title of a clinic, a clinical institute or a clinical department
• Rules governing urgent medical aid services
• Rules on organization of continuous health care
• Rules on the requirements to be met by health institutions providing practical clinical instructions of pupils attending secondary schools and of students attending advanced educational institutions in order to be awarded the title educational institution
• Rules on the conditions which health institutions and private health workers need to fulfil  for performing programmes of specializations
• Rules on requirements to be met by health care organizations and private entities carrying out internship and secondment curricula, and specializations of physicians and dentists
• Rules on expert supervision with counselling
• Rules of administrative supervision in health care
• Rules of professional training activities of health care workers and co-workers
• Rules on the implementation of professional supervision and counselling for individual occupational groups of health professionals and health workers who are not organized in professional chambers and professional associations of public authority
• Rules on the requirements to be met by the persons engaged in pharmacy activities