Thailand and Germany announce the success on improving safety standard for healthcare personnel in Thailand

Overall results show that the project has successfully produced manuals and guidelines on occupational safety for healthcare personnel and also enhanced the capacity of 998 healthcare personnel through various training courses.

Throughout the 4 years of implementation, the project has strengthened safety among healthcare personnel through 4 training areas: 1) hand hygiene of healthcare professionals; 2) safe infusion therapy; 3) safety in oncology therapy; and 4) strengthening capacity building of the senior hospital management on healthcare personnel safety. All have served to enhance the knowledge of healthcare personnel and encouraged the hospitals’ senior management to support a safety policy. Fourteen of the total 17 pilot hospitals participating in the project have successfully put the policy into practice through the implementation of projects and measures to promote safety in various fields in the hospital.

Besides the training, the project also developed manuals and guidelines for personnel safety, namely, the Guidelines for Needlestick Injury Prevention, the Guidelines and Recommendations for Safety in Oncology Therapy and the Hand Hygiene Technical Reference Manual. These manuals and guidelines will be used for training healthcare personnel and distributed to hospitals across Thailand.

Mr. German Mueller, Project Director from GIZ said: “GIZ is very pleased and proud that the project has been able to improve the safety of healthcare personnel in Thailand. We never expected that there would be a pandemic during the implementation, but then COVID-19 emerged as a serious health threat. The project came at the right time because we had trained more than 200 healthcare personnel from around 70 hospitals on hand hygiene before the outbreak hit Thailand. Hopefully, those who were trained could use the knowledge and skills to protect themselves from COVID-19. In addition, the project has also strengthened the capacity of 93 healthcare personnel to be trainers who can help transfer the knowledge on occupational safety to their colleagues and networks. We hope that the knowledge and products that the project has contributed will be passed on and help healthcare personnel work safely. GIZ is looking forward to another opportunity to help support Thailand's medical and public health works in the future.”

“B. Braun (Thailand) Ltd. remains committed to protecting and improving the safety of healthcare personnel by being a Solution Partner in improving the quality of medical services as well as  sharing expertise and training to enhance the capacity of healthcare personnel. B. Braun, which now in its 32nd year in Thailand is committed to being a local partner and is well-positioned to act as a link between the medical diplomacy of Germany and Thailand. We are happy that the successful implementation of the project will enable hospitals to save costs and improve their efficiency for safer and sustainable healthcare services in Thailand. Furthermore, B. Braun has joined with GIZ and the Hospital Accreditation Institute (Public Organization) in supporting the safety of healthcare personnel during this latest wave of COVID-19 by donating 157,500 bottles of alcohol-based hand sanitizer to 62 hospitals in the red zones in May and August this year. We have also developed e-learning modules on hand hygiene targeting healthcare personnel and village health volunteers and underprivileged farmer communities in Ubon Ratchathani, Roi Et, Surin and Suphan Buri provinces,” Mr. Sayan Roy, Managing Director of B. Braun (Thailand) Ltd. added.

Dr. Piyawan Limpanyalert MD, Deputy CEO of the Hospital Accreditation Institute (Public Organization), HAI, said: “For sustainability and upscaling of the project's achievements, the HAI has initiated a system for reporting incidents and clinical risks called the National Reporting and Learning System, which includes reporting on hand washing among healthcare personnel as well as incident reports related to infusion therapy and chemotherapy. There are more than 700 hospitals across the country reporting to this system. HAI also emphasizes the safety of health personnel in terms of infection from their work, which is set to be an important and necessary standard for safety. In the current situation, healthcare personnel are at the highest risk of being infected through droplet transmission of COVID-19. Therefore, the safety of healthcare personnel in the COVID-19 era should be pushed further in any future cooperation. HAI believes that change and cooperation will lead to creating sustainability in the future.”

Mrs. Jintanarak Somsakulchai, head of chemotherapy ward, Sunpasitthiprasong Hospital, who attended the training for trainers course on chemotherapy safety, discussed the benefits received from the project, saying: “We have gained new skills and knowledge from experts and experienced trainers as well as learned about international standards that can be applied to the working context in Thailand. In addition, the approach of involving the hospital executives in listening and taking part in activities has resulted in better understanding and support from the executives on the provision of complete sets of protective equipment for chemotherapy according to international standards. This contributes to improvement of personnel safety and healthcare workers feel more confident in their operations and practices. Moreover, the availability of guidelines with international standards for healthcare personnel to follow will help enhance the quality of healthcare services in the hospitals as well as improve the safety of patients and healthcare personnel. This is consistent with the Patient and Personnel Safety: 2P Safety policy as well.”