HCM City (VNA) - Expertshave urged hospitals to update their treatment guidelines in obstetrics andpaediatrics to help reduce the number of maternal deaths and medical errors.

Dr Nguyen Ba My Nhi from Tu Du Obstetrics Hospital said herhospital periodically updates their own guidelines and also uses those createdby the Ministry of Health.

Speaking at a conference on the national action plan for maternal,infant and child health held on May 17 in HCM City, Nhi said that medicalerrors in obstetrics leading to maternal mortalities could be due to outdatedguidelines and negligence in following the standard steps of patient care.

She said that hospitals should not wait for the ministry to updatetreatment guidelines and should do it themselves, as the process at theministry level takes too much time.

Health officials often obey a “silent culture” and worry aboutpunishment if they report irregularities, she said.

Nhi said the reluctance to report problems had led to a lack ofdata and to difficulties in analysing causes that could be corrected later.

That is why the reported rate of maternal mortalities in thecountry is lower than the real rate.

Doctors and nurses in the country should freely report these medicalerrors, she said, adding that this could help correct potential errors andreduce maternal mortalities.

They should also apply IT to update database on reproductivehealth, especially medical errors, she added.

Nguyen Duc Vinh, head of maternal and child health departmentunder the Ministry of Health, said that doctors should obey the standardprocess of patient care to reduce medical errors in obstetrics.

“We do not accept medical errors caused by medical staffattitudes,” Vinh said, adding that if errors are due to low qualifications ofstaff, they will be given training.

The national action plan on maternal, infant and children healthfrom now to 2020 aims to improve methods to help reduce medical errors.

The plan targets reducing the rate of maternal mortality to 52 per100,000 live births from 58.3 in 2015. In 1990, the rate was 233 per 100,000live births.

The plan also calls for improvement of the network of healthfacilities for emergency aid and treatment in obstetrics and paediatrics.

To reach the plan’s goals, the health ministry’s maternal andchild health department has issued updated treatment guidelines on reproductivehealth care services.

Dinh Anh Tuan, the department’s deputy head, said that localhealth officials should create their own action plans on maternal, infant andchildren’s health suited to their areas and facilities.-VNA