Australasian psychiatry : bulletin of Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists
-
Australas Psychiatry · Apr 2011
Case ReportsBlame and accountability 1: understanding blame and blame pathologies.
In this first paper the role and dynamics of blame in the context of medical critical incidents is examined. Blame pathologies are described and the complex nature of medical adverse events and the environment are explored. ⋯ The necessary conditions for an accountable, responsive, fair and transparent health culture are proposed.
-
This paper aims to examine the nature of excuses. ⋯ The making of excuses is sometimes roundly condemned. However, an excuse is a reason offered in application for exemption from a task or for blameless status when an action has been taken (or not taken). Acceptance (or otherwise) depends on an assessment by society of the facts and a decision (by society) as to whether a sufficient quantity of energy has been exerted by the applicant. Psychoanalysis, meditation and the ageing process may assist the individual by reducing the number of excuses submitted, and increasing the rate of excuse acceptance (by society).
-
This paper describes aspects of the child and adolescent benchmarking forums that were part of the National Mental Health Benchmarking Project (NMHBP). These forums enabled participating child and adolescent mental health organizations to benchmark themselves against each other, with a view to understanding variability in performance against a range of key performance indicators (KPIs). ⋯ Benchmarking has the potential to illuminate intra- and inter-organizational performance in the child and adolescent context.
-
This second paper follows an exploration of the nature of blame and addresses the balance between a 'blame-free' health culture and appropriate accountability. This paper aims to define and describe accountability as a key component of clinical governance and a responsive, fair and transparent health culture. ⋯ The necessary conditions for an accountable, responsive, fair and transparent health culture are proposed.