The Commission is currently examining safety and quality priorities in primary care, and ways in which it can best contribute to improving outcomes in this sector.
To assist with this analysis, two literature reviews have been undertaken.
The Joanna Briggs Institute at the University of Adelaide has prepared a literature review Patient Safety in Primary Healthcare: a review of the literature (PDF 1,373 KB). It focussed specifically on patient safety and was structured to help address the following questions:
- What are the patient safety risks relevant to primary care?
- What research has been conducted regarding solutions to these risks?
- What are the gaps in the evidence base about patient safety in primary care?
The Clinical Epidemiology and Health Service Evaluation Unit at Melbourne Health has prepared a literature and policy review Potentially preventable hospitalisations: a review of the literature and Australian policies (PDF 335 KB) including a supplement (PDF 402 KB). This review provides information on factors that are associated with the occurrence of potentially preventable hospitalisations and interventions that have been successful in reducing them.
As part of the review information was obtained from jurisdictional websites, and jurisdictions were surveyed regarding the programs they were undertaking to reduce potentially preventable hospitalisations across a range of areas.
