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The 27th Annual Medico Legal Congress is fast approaching and will feature wonderfully credentialed speakers addressing complex and thought-provoking medico legal issues.
We are delighted to have Professor Euan Wallace AM, Chief Executive, Safer Care Victoria, presenting a keynote address at this years Congress. His address will be on “Compliance or Culture? Towards Targeting Zero or Improving Quality” on Thursday 1st March at 9:40am. In the lead-up to the event, we interviewed Professor Euan to gain an insight into his upcoming address.
We are delighted to have you present a keynote address at the 2018 Medico Legal Congress. What have been some of the highlights for you to date since the establishment of Safer Care Victoria?
Without doubt, the highlight has been meeting with all of our 84 health services and sharing their challenges and successes.
You are going to present an address based around Compliance or Culture? Towards Targeting Zero or Improving Quality. Without giving too much away about the upcoming presentation, are you able to share your thoughts generally on the imperatives for improvement in quality and safety?
For so long, we have taken the “tick box” and often punitive approach to quality and safety improvement and patient safety. I guess I am asking whether this has served us well. Or more importantly, has it served patients well.
Given your vast experience, where do you see the biggest improvements have been made in quality and safety in healthcare, and where do improvements still need to be made?
The most important advances are in transparency in outcome reporting. We have a long way to go but that is where measureable improvements will come from.
All too often people are still worried about sharing outcomes with “lawyers”! That’s what the conference is all about. The recent deregistering of a young paediatrician in the U.K. should make us all pause for thoughts. Compliance or culture? Where should we spend our efforts??
Are there any presentations from the 2018 Medico Legal Congress that you are particularly looking forward to?
Of course! So much looks great. I am looking forward to learning from Nicholas Cowdery. As you know, Voluntary Assisted Dying is a hot topic in Victoria ahead of next year. No surprise, I am also interested in the session on fetal death.
The 27th Annual Medico Legal Congress will be held on the 1st-2nd March 2018 at the Radisson Blu Plaza Hotel Sydney.
