Patient safety

The professional competence of the personnel is the foundation of patient safety. The professional qualifications of employees are verified during recruitment, and all new employees are trained for their duties in accordance with an induction training programme. The company actively develops the professional competence of the personnel. 

Pihlajalinna’s quality management is based on comprehensive self-monitoring, external quality assurance and comprehensive monitoring by the authorities. A self-monitoring programme in accordance with the Act on the Supervision of Social Welfare and Health Care Services was drawn up in 2023. The self-monitoring programme and plans are reviewed and updated annually or as necessary when there are changes in the activities or the operating environment. Self-monitoring makes it possible to quickly identify and address risks related to quality or safety. All business locations have a reporting system for the personnel to report any observed deviations. Customers report any problems they observe either directly to the personnel or through Pihlajalinna’s feedback systems.

The goal of patient safety is that care and the care environment do not cause the patient a hazard or harm that is not related to the care. Patient safety work is based on risk assessment, continuous development of operations and maintaining safety. The realisation and development of patient safety is evaluated by measuring, for example, deviations, infection rates, patient injury notifications and the decisions of the Patient Insurance Centre.

Pihlajalinna monitors the number of patient injury notifications and the decisions of the Patient Insurance Centre solutions in Private Healthcare Services and joint ventures in Public Services. With regard to patient safety in surgical operations, Pihlajalinna monitors the number of treatment-related deep infections in the surgical area, among other things. The implementation and effectiveness of the measures is monitored through, for example, customer feedback, customer surveys, internal and external audits and assessments. In addition, there are continuous development activities in different areas of the business.