Valoración ética de los errores médicos y la seguridad del paciente

Abstract

In the offer of health care services, errors may arise that are repeated, so when one has occurred, it is essential to reflect on the elements that could cause it and act on them; however, in general, there is a natural tendency to hide them, mainly due to fear of sanctions or lawsuits. The ethics of clinical safety finds it essential to reveal errors, including almost errors or those without significant consequences, betting on transparent management of them. No error should be filed, since its review in an honest and open manner is not only an ethical obligation, but it can also help to lessen its effects and improve the doctor-patient relationship. Achieving safe medical care requires continuous learning about how the different components of the system interact, this implies putting into practice the behaviors that have shown their effectiveness to reduce the probability of the appearance of faults and errors, increase their detection and reduce their consequences, as well as continuing to investigate the factors that contribute to improving patient safety and the quality of care. In this paper we analyze the incidents related to patient safety, through statistical information from the Comisión Nacional de Arbitraje Médico (CONAMED), referring to complaint files concluded by arbitral award in the 2012-2016 period.