Researchers from the University of New South Wales (UNSW) plan to tackle underlying problems in Australia's health system which harm in one in ten hospital patients each year.
Almost $8.5 million dollars in National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) funding has just been announced for the major project by the Health Minister Nicola Roxon.
"A million adverse events occur in general practice each year in Australia," said Professor Jeffrey Braithwaite, the Director of the Institute for Health Innovation at UNSW.
"Overseas data shows that patients receive recommended care only half of the time," he says. "We will significantly advance this work by investigating how and why this occurs, with a focus on the roles of teamwork, safe medication use and the application of information technology to support improved decision-making."
Professor Braithwaite is the lead investigator of the team*, which has received one of eight Program Grants to start in 2009.
Professor Braithwaite says there is a lack of evidence about what works in improving patient safety.
"Quality and safety of care are now at the very top of our national health agenda, but everyone is struggling to solve this complex systems problem. We simply cannot afford to keep doing more of the same."