The detection, reporting, measurement, and minimization of medical errors and harms is now a core requirement in clinical organizations throughout developed societies. This book focuses on this major new area in health care. It explores the nature of medical error, its incidence in different health care settings, and strategies for minimizing errors and their harmful consequences to patients. Written by leading authorities, it discusses the practical issues involved in reducing errors in health care - for the clinician, the health policy adviser, and ethical and legal health professionals.

The detection, reporting, measurement, and minimization of medical errors and harms is now a core requirement in clinical organizations throughout developed societies. This book focuses on this major new area in health care. It explores the nature of medical error, its incidence in different health care settings, and strategies for minimizing errors and their harmful consequences to patients. Written by leading authorities, it discusses the practical issues involved in reducing errors in health care - for the clinician, the health policy adviser, and ethical and legal health professionals.

Section 1: Understanding medical errors.1. Historical recognition and conceptual understanding of erroras an inevitable component of clinical work Internationaloverview.2. The patient safety implications of transitions inhealthcare.3. Are all errors the same?.4. How does the law deal with medical errors?.Section 2: Key clinical issues.5. The epidemiology of patient safety.6. Diagnostic errors: psychological theories and researchimplications.7. The aftermath of error on patients and health care staff.8. Medicines management to minimise errors in primary care.9. Error and organizational change.10. Error reporting systems.11. Analysis of health care error reports.Section 3: Learning from errors.12. Errors as individual learning opportunities.13. 'Mince or mice'? misunderstandings and patient safety in alinguistically diverse community.14. Patient safety and patient error.15. Significant event auditing and root cause analysis oferrors.16. Teaching students about medical errors.17. Medical education.18. Medical errors in narratives and case histories.Section 4: Communicating with the public.19. The patient's role in preventing errors and promotingsafety.20. Health care errors and the media.21. The many advantages and some disadvantages of a no-blameculture regarding medical errors