Common mistakes
● Details of what a risk-management team consists of
● Role of risk-management team
● Audit cycle and risk management
● The process of risk management
A good answer will include some or all of these points
● What is a risk-management team?
● Who should be in the team?
● What should be the remit of the team?
● How should it work?
● Description of the role of the team?
● Effect of the team on care
● Integration with other aspects of perinatal care
● Assessment/evaluation of the effectiveness of the team
Sample answer
Risk management is increasingly being recognised as an important component of clinical governance.
This is more so in the light of the rising cost of litigation in medicine. In obstetrics
and gynaecology, this is even more important in view of the fact that although the discipline
contributes only a small proportion of cases, its litigation bill comprises about 60 per cent of
the NHS litigation bill.
It is, therefore, not surprising that the Clinical Negligence Scheme for
Trusts requires all units to have risk-management teams. Setting up these teams is imperative.
How these units are set up will define their effectiveness.
In setting up a risk-management team, the first consideration must be the composition of
the team.
Within each unit, there should be a risk manager working within the team with the
remit of minimising risk. Team membership should reflect the multidisciplinary nature of
patient care within the unit.
It should include a midwife/nurse, physicians (junior and senior)
and an anaesthetist. This will ensure that all members of staff feel represented. The members
of the team should have an interest in risk management and must be educated on the importance of risk management as a means of improving care rather than as a punitive process.
The remit of the team must be clearly defined. The team should aim to identify risk-
management issues within the unit, set up guidelines on how to deal with these and, importantly, how to minimise risk-management issues within the unit.
There may be a place for the
introduction of incident reporting so that various risk-management issues could be identified
and a process set in place on how to deal with any deficiencies. The role of the team within the unit must be clear.
In addition, there must be channels of communication between the team,
members of staff and management.
This communication must be two way and efforts made to
ensure that the staff in the unit do not perceive the team as a fault-finding and blame team but
one whose role is constructive, aiming for a risk-free service within the unit.
Once the team has been established, there has to be a mechanism by which information is
disseminated to the unit. This may be through meetings and other fora where information on
risk-management issues is presented.
The ultimate objectives of the risk-management team
are to ensure that complaints are dealt with quickly and early, that potential problems are
identified early, dealt with and that members of staff are educated where weaknesses are identified in their practices. Members of risk-management teams must be seen to work in collaboration with all aspects of the services provided within the team.
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