She’s been appointed to a number of hospital committees as well as being invited to join the Expert Working Group on Safer Care Victoria and speaking at the Annual World Patient Safety Summit in the US in June.
But the highlight of her new patient safety advisor role arrived last week – an invitation by the World Health Organisation to speak in Geneva, Switzerland, at their World Patient Safety Day 2023 Global Conference ‘Engaging Patients for Patient Safety’ on September 12.
From an operation on the wrong leg at 19, followed by a mismanaged labour which resulted in 11 operations, to a retained surgical drain, Dinaaz, 64, has been through a lot.
“But my greatest medical challenge was the paralysis of my forearm and hand following an anaesthesia complication,” she said.
“Doctors repeatedly advised me to learn to live with the paralysis but I found a surgeon who reluctantly operated and within two days, the paralysis was reversed.”
While convinced that mistakes are an opportunity to improve, Dinaaz said the culture in medicine needs to change.
“Patient death from errors is the third leading cause of death, after heart disease and cancer,” she said.
“International Patient Safety Day is a major event all over the world but it slips through the cracks in Australia.
“While I’m excited to be going to Geneva and addressing a global audience, I can’t even get an appointment with NSW Health Minister Ryan Park; I feel there’s so much work that needs to be done to improve patient safety and want to discuss how to implement some of the initiatives now being followed in US hospitals.”
