Preventable tragedies

EDITORIAL: The one aspect of the country’s chronically underperforming healthcare sector that doesn’t get the attention it deserves is the prevalence of medical errors, which contribute to preventable complications, increased healthcare costs, a trust deficit in the system, and in the most tragic cases, unnecessary deaths.

As highlighted in a recent press conference held in Karachi regarding patient safety, and attended by leading medical professionals, a highly disturbing 18-20 percent of hospitalised patients in Pakistan lose their lives to medical errors, which encompass medical negligence, surgical errors, misdiagnoses, misadministration of drugs and hospital-acquired infections.

At the conference, the NICVD’s executive director underscored how hospital-acquired infections, especially, remain a leading cause of mortality and chronic illnesses in Pakistan, worsened by poor hygiene standards, inadequate infection control measures and overcrowded healthcare facilities.

This crisis is further compounded by insufficient training for healthcare providers, an underdeveloped healthcare infrastructure and the absence of standardised protocols. The latter is particularly critical, as unclear, inconsistent guidelines for infection prevention, patient care and medical procedures heighten the risk of clinical negligence.

Even with proper systems and protocols in place, poorly trained medical personnel can still compromise patient safety by misinterpreting guidelines, making critical treatment mistakes and failing to respond effectively to emergencies.

Here one cannot ignore the shortcomings of the country’s medical education system, as it frequently neglects to prioritise patient safety and the prevention of clinical mistakes. As a result, many healthcare professionals are inadequately prepared to identify, manage and mitigate lapses in patient care.

This deficiency leads to a workforce that may struggle to implement critical safety protocols, increasing the likelihood of misdiagnoses, procedural mishaps and treatment-related complications.

As underscored by the chairman of patient safety at the NICVD, around 75 hospitals in Pakistan conduct specialised training workshops for medical staff, which has led to improved patient safety outcomes at these institutions.

However, in a country of over 240 million, this is clearly inadequate and what is needed is a nationwide, standardised approach to medical training that ensures all healthcare facilities — both public and private — implement comprehensive, ongoing education programmes focused on patient safety, error prevention, adherence to best practices and ensuring that medical professionals remain well-informed about emerging advancements.

Adding to the scope of the challenge is the disastrous impact of errors in prescribing, dispensing and administering drugs. According to media reports, Pakistan witnesses a shocking 500,000 deaths annually due to medication errors alone.

Apart from a lack of stringent medication safety protocols, a shortage of qualified pharmacists has compounded this crisis. Only 3,000 of Pakistan’s 60,000 pharmacies employ trained pharmacists, with the rest being manned by unqualified staff with little legal consequences.

It goes without saying that enforcing strict safety regulations has become increasingly imperative to ensure that every pharmacy in the country is staffed with qualified professionals.

Moreover, the deep-rooted cultural norm of deference to authority, which discourages questioning those in senior positions has contributed to compromised patient safety. In a hospital setting, this can have serious implications.

Anyone familiar with the workings of hospitals knows how challenging it can be to question medical decisions. This hesitancy is not limited to patients and their families as even junior medical staff may feel unwilling or fearful of raising concerns or reporting lapses in care.

A culture that promotes open communication, transparency and accountability, and where healthcare providers are encouraged to report errors without fear of punishment has become essential.

A framework for fostering such a culture can be built through the implementation of robust policies that mandate the reporting and thorough analysis of medical errors. This can help build a healthcare system that is patient-centered, efficient and committed to preventing avoidable tragedies.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2025