Health experts will gather in Bahrain tomorrow (September 16) to develop a scheme that will prevent medical errors and malpractice.

The conference, called Second Arab Gulf Forum for Medical Administration - Medical Errors, will be hosted by the Bahrain Medical Society (BMS) under the patronage of Minister of State for Defence Affairs and Supreme Council for Health chairman Dr Shaikh Mohammed bin Abdulla Al Khalifa, said a report in the Gulf Daily News (GDN), our sister publication.

The three-day event, at the InterContinental Regency Bahrain, will bring together more than 20 local, regional and international experts who will present papers on medical errors, safe practices and case presentations during parallel workshops.

BMS president Dr Mohammed Al Rafea said the conference will also focus on prevention strategies that should be adopted by the healthcare system.

“It will educate physicians about the definition of medical errors and safeguards available through the legal system of Bahrain,” he told the GDN.

“It will highlight their concerns to reduce medical errors and provide opportunities to discuss how to respond to medical malpractice claims efficiently.

“It will also educate patients about their rights and help them build more trust in their physicians.”

According to the World Health Organisation, medical errors are among the top 10 killers in the world in which one in 10 hospital admissions leads to adverse events and one in 300 admissions results in death.

“In developed countries, medical errors and health care adverse events affect 10 to 12 per cent of patients admitted to hospitals and there's a strong evidence that 50 per cent to 70 per cent of those can be prevented by comprehensive systematic approaches to patients' safety,' said Dr Al Rafea.

National Health Regulatory Authority chief executive Dr Baha Eldin Fateha will conduct a session, called medico-legal, about the law regarding medical errors.

“The topic will cover the law in Bahrain that addresses medical errors, which many are not aware of,” he told the GDN.

“We need to know that rights are equal for patients and doctors and the event will focus on this.”

The conference's chief speaker is former Jordanian health minister Professor Mahmood Al Shayib and the opening address will be delivered by Arab Gulf Forum for Medical Administration secretary-general Dr Fahad Ebrahim Al Shehabi. - TradeArabia News Service