“First do no harm.” This principle remains central to the provision of high-quality healthcare. The mission to make care safer unites professionals and patients alike,
and safety is a key component of any quality initiative. Yet there are still too many avoidable errors.
The global patient safety movement was first spurred by the Institute of Medicine’s landmark report, To Err is Human. Nearly two decades later, while progress has been made, harm to patients remains an everyday reality in health systems all over the world.
This report aims to inform policymakers and health system leaders about the existing and emerging threats to patient safety, and to provide specific recommendations on how to tackle these threats. It also builds on existing recommendations to integrate patient safety within each level of healthcare systems, each setting of care, and across each juncture of the patient pathway. Finally, it highlights the important role that international collaboration can play in the quest to minimise avoidable harm.
The National Institute for Health Research Imperial Patient Safety Translational Research Centre developed the report in partnership with Imperial’s Centre for Health Policy, in addition to collaboration with, and input from, some of the world’s most respected experts on patient safety.
The report will:
- Outline the emerging trends that threaten patient safety over the next 15 years.
- Argue for the need to reduce harm by employing an integrated, system-wide approach, which involves: creating a culture of safety, putting patients and staff at the centre of all interventions and implementing evidence-based policies.
- Introduce the tools available to improve patient safety – including those that have been available, but have remain underutilised, as well as more innovative ones that promise newer ways to reduce harm. • Highlight the potential of international collaboration for improving safety.
- Synthesise the key recommendations to health system leaders and policymakers.
