To enhance the safety of Australian patients by reducing misconnections between medical devices

Phoebe-Anne Mainland travelled to the United Kingdom and the USA to explore opportunities to enhance the safety of Australian patients by reducing misconnections between medical devices. Report Summary: In health care, administration of fluids via the incorrect route can cause significant harm to patients. The engineering solution to reduce misconnections between medical devices by using application specific connectors is an obvious one to improve patient safety, however, the implementation of devices with new connectors is ambitious and has many challenges. Experiences and work done in other jurisdictions will assist with the introduction in Australia of devices with new connectors. Several resources are easily available. The key activities for effective implementation of new devices include authoritative leadership; a coordinated effort with flexibility in the time frame; dynamic communication with, and education of stakeholders, and stock management planning. The experiences in some other jurisdictions give clear evidence of the problems of not having a comprehensive approach to the introduction of medical devices with new connectors. This talks to the importance of having an authoritative, coordinating body as leader, and the importance and balance of a full change process for the devices across each clinical application.