WHEREAS:

The Institute of Medicine (IOM), an arm of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), recently reported that 44,000 to 98,000 Americans die each year as the result of medical errors in hospitals alone, exceeding the number who die from motor vehicle accidents (43,458), breast cancer (42,297) or AIDS (16,516); and

WHEREAS:

The national cost of medical errors, including lost income, lost household production, disability and health care expenses, is estimated to be between $17 billion and $29 billion per year; and

WHEREAS:

The IOM report highlights the need for a comprehensive approach to improving patient safety, including identifying and learning from errors through mandatory and voluntary reporting requirements and the implementation of organizational safety systems which will reduce the opportunity for errors; and

WHEREAS:

Common conditions in health care facilities, including inadequate staffing, dangerously long hours of work and underutilization of computer technology, have created an environment in which errors are more likely to occur; and

WHEREAS:

Health care facilities frequently approach errors by seeking out individual scapegoats who can be blamed for incidents rather than addressing the systems and conditions that make errors more likely to occur; and

WHEREAS:

The aviation industry has demonstrated that establishing channels and mechanisms through which frontline workers can report safety problems confidentially and without fear of discipline improves safety.

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED:

That AFSCME supports the establishment of systems which require health care institutions to report serious errors to a publicly accountable entity and allow health care employees to report errors as part of a voluntary program for improving patient safety; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED:

That such systems foster blame-free environments which enhance the identification of systems errors and protect the confidentiality of patients and health care practitioners who might otherwise be made scapegoats for failures of the institution; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED:

That such systems establish standards for work practices that can improve patient safety, including minimum staffing levels and hours of work; and

BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED:

That such systems promote the identification of errors and poor patient safety practices by prohibiting retaliation by employers against health care workers who report such problems.

SUBMITTED BY:

Mary Lou Millar, President and Delegate
CHCA/NUHHCE/AFSCME 1199
Barbara Simonetta, Secretary-Treasurer
CHCA/NUHHCE/AFSCME 1199
Connecticut