An investigation of incident management in New South Wales and its applicability to the Sultanate of Oman

This research aimed to investigate an incident management framework that could be applied to Omani public and private hospitals. This necessitated an examination of the core features of internationally recognised incident reporting systems and investigation of the multiple factors that influence their effectiveness. In particular I chose the ‘Incident Information Management System’ (IIMS) operating in New South Wales (Australia) for study. I selected to explore an Australian incident monitoring system because the country had developed a safety and quality framework for patient safety, had the support of professional bodies, and a record of reporting, analysing and monitoring health care associated adverse events. Of particular interest was the efficiency and effectiveness of IIMS as well as any features that might be characteristic of an effective reporting system. While the IIMS operates in most hospitals in NSW I selected three individual Local Health District hospitals for my study. To answer my research questions, a mixed methods approach using qualitative and quantitative methods research design was used to elicit rich, detailed and contextual accounts of IIMS 'in action' including oversight, monitoring and management of the system. NSW Health is responsible for the health system and is internationally recognised for the extensive work on quality and safety; notably the introduction of the Patient Safety and Clinical Quality program and the establishment of the state-wide incident reporting system ‘IIMS’ in NSW public hospitals in 2006. IIMS is an electronic data system accessed by a wide range of health professional staff employed in the NSW public hospital system to report clinical incidents. IIMS enables reported incidents from any hospital under a LHD to be aggregated on a data dashboard at a state-wide level. Incident data is then used to design interventions to prevent an incident re-occurring, reduce the risk of harm to patients, and ultimately, improve patient care. The final component of my research investigates whether a similar incident reporting system of ‘IIMS’ is suitable for implementing in Omani hospitals in the Sultanate of Oman, and if so, what challenges and barriers might arise given the cultural and socio-political differences between Australia and Oman. I performed an environmental scan of the Sultanate of Oman’s current health care system for managing incidents at three hospitals. These hospitals have different characteristics- a public hospital under the Ministry of Health authority, a university teaching hospital under government authority, and one private hospital. This study looks at the similarities and differences in the two countries to answer the overall research question of the applicability of Australian incident management to the Sultanate of Oman and other similar Middle Eastern countries