Life Healthcare believes that transparency in reporting on the standard of healthcare their patients receive is of paramount importance in delivering patient-centred care.

You put yourself in our hands

Every day, Life Healthcare clinical staff – doctors, nurses and allied-health professionals – perform patient treatments ranging from routine to complicated. Since every procedure carries a measure of risk, Life Healthcare is committed to vigorously protecting patient safety, ensuring that each patient receives the best possible care and is treated with compassion, respect and dignity. We also constantly monitor healthcare quality with the aim to address two key areas:

1. Clinical excellence: providing world-class clinical care
2. Improving patient experience: holistically addressing the needs of patients and their families

Life Healthcare commits to quality

Quality is at the heart of all we do. It is more than a nice-to-have. Instead it is a key driver of how we do business and treat patients. Our quality commitments include the following: 

• Continually improving by means of implementing quality standards and international best practice
• Monitoring and improving the effectiveness of our quality management system
• Setting appropriate goals and objectives relating to safety, health and quality across the business
• Preventing adverse events to patients, customers, employees and the environment by means of proactive risk management
• Complying with relevant regulatory and governing body requirements

Transparency empowers patients

Life Healthcare is committed to patient-centric care and to that end, patients need to have the most accurate and up-to-date information, so they can make informed decisions about their health. In line with the Competition Commission’s Health Market Inquiry, we make our quality and patient safety data public, which further entrenches our commitment to patient safety.

Consistent monitoring creates success

While Life Healthcare benchmarks against itself since there is no standardised South African benchmark, we monitor and manage patient quality measures and results very closely, driving continuous improvement and sharing best practice, implementing specific initiatives at a national and regional level. We also report on and attempt to mitigate all adverse events with a focus on four key patient risk areas:

• Medication
• Falls
• Procedure related adverse events
• Pressure ulcers 

As a result of constant surveillance and monitoring during 2018, the patient adverse events decreased by 0.4%.

Measuring and improving the patient experience

To ensure accuracy and objectivity, patient satisfaction survey feedback is monitored by an independent service provider. Using a combination of electronic communication and a manual comment card, both distributed after discharge, patients and their families are able to provide qualitative feedback and comments about their experience.

Judging from the results, overall patient experience continues to improve. Here are some noteworthy results:

• 8 Life Healthcare hospitals are ranked among the top 20 hospitals in the Discovery Health Patient Experience survey for 2017
• The number of comment cards completed by patients increased by 10%
• Electronic patient survey responses increased by 2.1%
• 22 hospitals achieved scores more than 71% versus 19 in 2017

Life Healthcare’s 2018 patient quality and safety scores have recently been updated and below is a guide to interpreting the data. 

The information is shared on condition that readers will make their own determination, including seeking advice from a healthcare professional. E&OE. Life Healthcare Group Ltd does not accept any responsibility for any loss or damage suffered by the reader as a result of the information provided.