Patient safety

A global agenda for action

 What is patient safety

Patient safety is

 The absence of preventable harm to a patient during

the process of health care

 A component and a result of good quality health

services and quality of care

 Improved health outcomes and health status

 Why patient safety
 1 in 10 patients harmed in hospital care
 14 out of every 100 patients affected by HAI
 2% patients subject to surgical complications for the
234 million surgical operations performed every year

 6.3 events per patient days in the US annually due to

medical devices

 20-40% health spending wasted due to poor quality of

care and safety failures

Sources: WHO global report on evidence on patient safety 2008, WHO 10 facts for patient safety accessed 2015
 IBEAS report 2011

Source: IBEAS, a pioneer study on patient safety in Latin America, Towards safer health care, WHO, 2011
 EMRO AFRO report 2011

Source: Patient safety in developing and transitional countries, New insights from Africa and the Eastern Mediteranean , WHO, 2011
 Costs associated with safety
Summing what How much

 Additional hospitalization Costs associated with safety

failures run into several billion
 Litigation costs dollars annually
 Infections acquired in Costs associated with HAI run
hospitals into US$7-8.2 billion annually in
US, €800 million in UK and
 Disability
France, US$48 million in Turkey
 Lost productivity
Costs associated with unsafe
 Medical expenses injections run into US$535 million
direct medical costs

Sources: WHO global report on evidence on patient safety 2008, WHO 10 facts for patient safety accessed 2015
 Patient safety is a serious
public health issue

1 in 1000,000 chance of a 1 in 300 chance

traveler of a patient

being harmed being harmed

while in an aircraft during health care

 WHO and Patient Safety
2002: WHA55.18 resolution: Quality of care-patient
safety
2004: official launch of the WHO World Alliance for
Patient Safety – WHO Patient Safety Program
Since 2004:
-over 140 countries have worked to address challenges
of unsafe care
-WHO Patient Safety grew into a multi task program
working with a health system perspective
 WHO Patient Safety
Currently working on 13 priority action areas

Organized under 5 main work streams

Research

Campaigns

Education and training

Implementing change

Patient engagement
 Research
Strengthening capacity for patient safety research
 Guide for developing training programs
 Core competencies for patient safety researchers

Methods, measures and tools

 Methodological guide for data poor settings
 Patient safety in primary care
 Rapidly assessing hazards
 Human factors tools

Generating data & research small grants

 Campaigns
Clean care: ‘Save lives: clean your hands’
 The first patient safety challenge
 136 Member States and autonomous areas pledged
support
 5 May 2015 campaign theme: Strengthening health
care systems and delivery ‘hand hygiene is your
entrance door’
Safe surgery: ‘Safe surgery saves lives’
 The second patient safety challenge
 WHO guidelines on safe surgery and surgical checklist
 Pulse oximetry project
 Patient safety in robotic surgery
 Global initiative for emergency and essential surgical care
 Education and training

Patient safety curriculum for Medical schools

Patient safety multi professional curriculum

Training for leaders in patient safety

Learning from error workshop materials

Radiotherapy risk profile

Training materials in infection control

Introductory course to patient safety

 Implementing change
patient safety measures and solutions

Reducing blood stream infections

Information model for patient safety
Reporting and learning systems
Hand hygiene implementation tools
Patient safety checklists
 Safe surgery checklist
 Safe childbirth
 Trauma
 Pandemic care
 African partnership
for patient safety
“Only by working together
can we address this public
health issue, strengthen
health systems and make the
delivery of health care safe
for every patient in Africa,
every time.”
Dr Marie-Paule Kieny, Assistant
Director-General – Health
Systems and Innovation, WHO
To register: www.who.int/patientsafety/implementation/apps
 Global partnership focused
on the WHO African region
 Promotes safety
improvement uniting patient
safety efforts
 Based on sustainable
hospital to hospital
partnership
 First priorities: preventing
health care associated
infections & safe surgery
 Patient engagement

Patient safety champions Patients for patients

communication series
- A global network
 Webinars
- 21 champions in 2005
 Advocacy
- >250 champions today
 Literacy
- >50 countries involved
 Engagement
- An electronic community  Patients engagement in
medication safety
- Workshops
 7day mother baby
- In country mCheck tool
- Regional
- Global
 Patient Activation Measure
‘When patient activation levels change, health outcomes
and costs change too’
J. Green et al, Health Affairs, March 2015
 Largest longitudinal study of Patient Activation Measure
with impact on cost and outcome
 Relationship between changes in activation level and
health outcomes (over 32.000 patients)
 Projected costs 31% lower for high PAM
 Costs 14% higher when moving from PAM 4 to 3
 Costs 27% higher when moving from PAM 4 to 2/1
 Patient rights & Patient safety

Source: Exploring patient participation in reducing health-care-related safety risks, Delnoy et Hafner editors, WHO Europe 2013
Source: Exploring patient participation in reducing health-care-related safety risks, Delnoy et Hafner editors, WHO Europe 2013
 Integrated approach with patient safety at
the core of high performing health systems

Bringing together all

factors which can
potentially impact the
quality and safety of
processes
Engaging the patient as co
producer of own health
 Acknowledgements
Information sources used in this presentation draw from
WHO patient safety dedicated pages and materials
www.who.int/patientsafety

The WHO Service Delivery and Safety Unit led by

Dr ET Kelley kelleye@who.int

The WHO Patient safety and quality of care program

coordinated by
Dr N Dhingra Khumar dhingran@who.int
The WHO Country Office led by
Dr SL Barber barbers@who.int
Thank you

For further questions:

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