According to the Joint Commission, patient suicide ranks among the top three sentinel events, prompting regulators to focus heavily on ligature risks, an article on the Healthcare Construction + Operations said.
Any observable ligature risk is an immediate Recommendations for Improvement (RFI) when observed in an inpatient psychiatric area, to be corrected within 45 days or less depending on the severity or the total number of issues identified.
Surveyors will assess:
• Has this facility identified and assessed ligature risks?
• What plans have they developed to eliminate those risks?
• What is their risk assessment process?