Safety management in healthcare by means of live working

An interesting parallel has been discovered when studying the sources of quality and safety management in healthcare and carrying out of live working in the maintenance of electrical installations. The awareness and efforts of healthcare professionals focused on the increase in patient safety as well as the electrical profession in carrying out live working have a hundred year tradition. In both fields, the first success was observed in Slovenia in the last decade. Patient safety is the first priority of all the persons involved in the healthcare system. The Slovene health policy started the systematic preparation of supporting documents in 2006 in order to assist the implementation of continuous improvement in quality and safety management in hospitals. In recent years, several medical institutions have started and successfully completed the certification under the quality management standards and many of them efficiently concluded the process of accreditation in accordance with the international standards. Live working was introduced into the Slovene electric power system in 2006 when the discussions about the benefits of preventive maintenance of electrical installations started In 2009, live working officially began in the Krško Nuclear Power Plant. In 2011, it was started in the Slovene electricity distribution and in the University Medical Centre (UKCL) when a very complex re-connection on the main low voltage panel was required. When reviewing the scientific and professional literature a large gap was discovered in patient safety when the reliable supply of healthcare institutions with electricity is to be provided and high requirements of standards in electrical installation maintenance in healthcare facilities are to be met. The paper presents the connections between live working, patient safety and the valuable Slovene experience in carrying out live working in healthcare. It has to be pointed out that the contribution of live working to the safety management in healthcare is indispensable.