[Re: https://www.hifa.org/dgroups-rss/spotlight-patient-safety-and-ncds-12-q1... ]
In my previous message I raised the question of whether poor-quality health care leading to death should be categorised as unsafe care. If so, then the global impact of unsafe care is probably at least 6 million rather than the 3 million that is commonly quoted in patient safety circles.
We have noted that global descriptions of poor-quality and unsafe care are selective - they do not typically include care in the home or community.
Question 1 also invites us to reflect on national and local impacts.
In which countries are patients most likely to receive unsafe care? It would be interesting to see a visual world map. What countries provide the most and least safe care and what are their commonalities?
We may anticipate that people living in LMICs carry the greatest burden, due primarily to an overworked and undersupported health workforce. A world map that also provides information on causality would be very helpful.
At which level of the health system is unsafe care most likely: in the home or community? among outpatients and the family doctor's clinic? in the emergency room? among inpatients in district or referral hospitals?
An additional factor is socioeconomic: those with the highest income are able to afford higher-quality care, while those without are dependent on stretched public health systems.
There are also considerations around medical needs. For example, I understand that people living with disabilities have a higher risk of unsafe care. People living with NCDs are also at higher risk for reasons we shall explore.
I look forward to learn more about the distribution of unsafe care, by country, by level in the health system, and by medical need.
HIFA profile: Neil Pakenham-Walsh is coordinator of HIFA (Healthcare Information For All), a global health community that brings all stakeholders together around the shared goal of universal access to reliable healthcare information. HIFA has 20,000 members in 180 countries, interacting in four languages and representing all parts of the global evidence ecosystem. HIFA is administered by Global Healthcare Information Network, a UK-based nonprofit in official relations with the World Health Organization. Email: neil@hifa.org