Improving Safety & Quality in Women’s & Newborn Care
Reducing Hospital Acquired Complications
One of the ways in which WHA supports members to improve the quality of care is through benchmarking rates of Hospital Acquired Complications (HACs). HACs are defined by the Australian Commission on Safety & Quality in Healthcare and include issues or harms that may arise for some patients in the course of their care, such as infection, surgical complications or unplanned return to theatre.
There are two HACs specifically related to maternity care: ‘Third and fourth degree perineal lacerations during delivery’ and ‘Neonatal birth trauma’. WHA reports rates of HACs to member hospitals to help them monitor whether their rates per birth are higher than peers, and whether they are improving or worsening over time.
While all WHA member services work hard to prevent HACs from occurring, sometimes they are unavoidable. WHA helps members to share data about the frequency and types of HACs that are occurring, and to share information, strategies & resources aimed at reducing the risk of HACs in the future.
