International Alliance of Patients’ Organisations launches patient safety toolkit

The IAPO has launched an advocacy toolkit for patient groups to inform and support their activities, advocating for improved patient safety, at a regional meeting of patient groups in Uganda. The toolkit, “Addressing Global Patient Safety Issues: An Advocacy Toolkit for Patients’ Organisations”, is the first multi-issue resource for patient groups, providing the means for patients and patients’ organisations to engage in the provision of healthcare and contribute to a quality and safe healthcare system, and a reduction in harm to patients.

The prevalence of patient safety incidents is shocking. The rate of adverse events in hospitals in the UK, New Zealand and Canada is estimated to be around 10 percent (1 in 10 people that stay in hospital) (World Alliance for Patient Safety 2005 Forward Programme). The human cost is unacceptable, but the financial cost is also significant. In 1999, the Institute of Medicine in the USA, published the report “To err is human: Building a safer healthcare system”, in which they estimated that the cost of medical error was up to US$29 billion per year in hospitals nationwide.

When we receive healthcare we expect it to be safe. This is not always the case. Patient safety incidents commonly affect patients worldwide, regardless of the status of their national healthcare systems. The safety of patients can be compromised in many ways including medical errors, counterfeit or substandard medicines and inadequate cleanliness of hospitals. In many cases, simple measures are all it takes to significantly reduce the risk of causing harm. In others, the problem may be more complex, but in all cases a solution should be developed that is patient-centred which requires the full involvement of patients in the decision making process.

The IAPO Advocacy Toolkit contains background information, facts, and figures on key patient safety issues identified by IAPO’s 200 patient group members as of immediate concern to them. These are: Medical Error; Taking Medicines Correctly, Hospital Acquired Infections, Quality and Safety of Medicines, Re-Use of Single Use Medical Devices, Injection Safety; Maternal and Child Health; and Participation in Clinical Trials. The Toolkit also provides detailed advice and tips on how to advocate and build partnerships to achieve patient safety goals and on communicating messages to patients and other health stakeholders.

Hussain Jafri, IAPO Chair Elect and Chair, Alzheimer’s Pakistan, stressed that “…everyone has a role to play in protecting patient safety. However, it is imperative that all healthcare providers, in particular governments, support measures that can protect patients from adverse events. The IAPO Toolkit will provide patients and their representatives with the information and confidence to hold all healthcare stakeholders to account and ensure that they receive the highest achievable level of quality and safe healthcare. ”