Dear HIFA colleagues,
I am forwarding this to HIFA on behalf of Dr Neelam DHINGRA, Unit Head, WHO Patient Safety. Meanwhile I have written to Dr Dhingra to explore opportunities for collaboration between the Global Patient Safety Network and HIFA. There are strong areas of shared interest, notably quality of care. This year’s GPSN theme of ‘the right diagnosis’. These need to be seen from a patient safety perspective and an informed-healthworker (and patient) perspective.
We have discussed previously on HIFA that the patient safety approach has formerly emphasised accidental errors. The current focus on 'the right diagnosis' underlines the crucial element of health worker empowerment.
We can also learn from the patient safety movement in that our task ahead is to develop a global strategy to accelerate progress towards universal access to reliable healthcare information. The Global Patient Safety Action Plan 2021-2030 can help to inform this work. https://www.who.int/teams/integrated-health-services/patient-safety/poli...
I look forward to your comments.
Best wishes Neil
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Dear Colleagues,
Greetings from WHO Patient Safety Flagship in Geneva.
It gives me great pleasure to share that the Director-General of WHO Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, in his opening message at the 6th Global Ministerial Summit on Patient Safety, in Santiago, Chile last week, announced "Improving diagnosis for patient safety" as the theme for World Patient Safety Day (WPSD) 2024, with the slogan “Get it right, make it safe!”. Many thanks for your key involvement in the selection and phrasing of the theme and the slogan at the beginning of this year.
Estimates have shown that most adults are likely to face at least one diagnostic error in their lifetime. A diagnostic error is the failure to establish a correct and timely explanation of a patient’s health problem, which can include delayed, incorrect, or missed diagnoses, or a failure to communicate that explanation to the patient. These errors often arise from a combination of system and cognitive factors that impact the recognition of patients’ key signs and symptoms, and the interpretation and communication of their test results.
Resolution WHA72.6 ‘Global action on patient safety’ and the Global Patient Safety Action Plan 2021–2030 highlight the need to ensure the safety of diagnostic processes. https://www.who.int/teams/integrated-health-services/patient-safety/poli...
This World Patient Safety Day, WHO calls for concerted efforts to significantly reduce diagnostic errors through multifaceted interventions rooted in systems thinking, human factors and active engagement of patients, their families, health workers and health care leaders.
Please spread the word by disseminating the enclosed announcement sheet to share information about the WPSD 2024 through your networks. The World Patient Safety Day 2024 Event Page is also available in English HERE and will be made available in other UN languages soon. In the coming weeks, this webpage will contain the announcement in all UN official languages. The WHO campaign page, further content and campaign materials will be populated in the upcoming months.
We encourage you to start making your plans to commemorate the Day and share the plans on this network by replying to this thread. This helps inspire others and enables WHO to record how the Day was observed around the world.
Together, we have achieved impressive successes in the previous World Patient Safety Days since its establishment in 2019 by the 72nd World Health Assembly (WHA72.6 - WHA resolution ‘Global action on patient safety’ https://apps.who.int/gb/ebwha/pdf_files/WHA72/A72_R6-en.pdf ). This network plays a pivotal role in advancing patient safety globally, and we are counting on your continued support and strengthened participation to shine a light on the importance of diagnostic safety as part of patient safety on the global stage.
Looking forward to working closely with you and witnessing your impressive initiatives and festivities.
Thanks and best regards,
Dr Neelam DHINGRA
Unit Head
WHO Patient Safety Flagship/
A Decade of Patient Safety 2021-2030
World Health Organization
Geneva, Switzerland
Office Email: dhingran@who.int
Personal Email: dhingra.neelam@gmail.com
Office: +41 22 791 4660
Web: https://www.who.int/health-topics/patient-safety
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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
