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Patient safety gets increased attention from the European Commission
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Recently the European Parliament Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety, also known as the ENVI Committee, unanimously approved a patient safety report and asked for safer health care on several levels. The text of the report specifically mentioned improving patient safety during hospitalizations and the efforts to stop antimicrobial resistance. This not only brings into focus what previously has been achieved in patient safety in Europe, but also raises some important questions about the effectiveness of current practices used in the name of quality care.
As a health care provider and surgeon, I am very satisfied with our politicians’ ongoing interest in patient safety and health care-associated infections which not only result in much suffering for patients, but also increase the burden on health care budgets. According to survey results on patient safety published in 2014 by the European Commission, 53% of Europeans are fearful of the harm that may come to them in hospitals. Such recognition of the public’s concern suggests real barriers exist throughout the European Union when it comes to ensuring patients receive the highest quality care possible.
Furthermore, there is considerable fragmentation of the current political approaches taken about patient safety. It has been agreed by some that certain adverse events, including medication-related errors, surgical errors, medical device failures, errors in diagnosis and failure to act on the results of tests, result from failing to keep up with new technology. This not only brings the daily practices of the health care providers into question, but also the implementation of modern technology.
We need to recognize the role that innovation can play in keeping patients safe. This is crucial not only for the patients we see today, but also for future patients. I anxiously await more specific details about what the European Parliament plans to focus on as the number one way to improve safety as it affects our patients. Hopefully, this will be the kind of information from which we can all benefit.
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- Per Kjaersgaard-Andersen, MD, is Chief Medical Editor of Orthopaedics Today Europe. He can be reached at Orthopaedics Today Europe, 6900 Grove Rd., Thorofare, NJ 08086, USA; email: orthopaedics@healio.com.
Disclosure: Kjaersgaard-Andersen reports no relevant financial disclosures.