Quality, patient safety

Patient safety is a fundamental principle of health care. Every point in the process of care-giving contains a certain degree of risk to patient safety.

Adverse events (or safety mishaps) may result from problems in practice, products, procedures or systems. Patient safety improvements demand a system-wide effort, involving actions in performance improvement, environmental safety and risk management, including infection control, safe use of medicines, equipment safety, safe clinical practice and safe environment of care.

Taking a whole-system perspective, and orienting systems to the delivery and improvement of quality, are fundamental to progress and to meeting the expectations of both populations and health care workers.