Exploring patient participation in reducing health-care-related safety risks

» being involved in monitoring and reporting adverse events;
» checking and double-checking that they are given the correct dose of the correct
medication at the correct time;
» being informed about what to expect in terms of surgery;
» being encouraged to report any adverse event or complication;
» observing and asking staff about hand washing; and
» ensuring they are properly identified prior to treatment (6).
Three specific questions are addressed in this chapter.
1. What are patients’ attitudes towards their involvement in patient safety?
2. What are the actual effects of involving patients in safety management?
3. What are the experiences of patients with respect to:
• the occurrence of adverse events;
• safety management in health care facilities (such as receiving information about
the appropriateness of interventions, risks, benefits and alternatives, as well as
identity checking); and
• being actively involved in safety management and feeling safe?
Questions 1 and 2 are addressed in a short overview of the relevant literature on patient
participation in patient safety. Question 3 is answered by means of analysis of patient
experience surveys and data collected.
Box 7 .1 . “Patients for Patient Safety” – action area of the WHO World Alliance for
Patient Safety
The World Alliance for Patient Safety was launched by WHO in 2004. The perception of patients and families as
an untapped resource was officially acknowledged by the global medical community within this initiative, as was
viewing the patient experience as a learning tool. Patient and consumer involvement – in the form of the programme
entitled “Patients for Patient Safety” – was designated as one of the original six action areas of the Alliance.
The “Patients for Patient Safety” agenda promotes the perspective of patients and their families in planning and
delivering care as being:
» crucial to articulating the reality and identifying the gaps between patient safety measures that can be
achieved and the levels of safety being experienced by patients;
» necessary to ensure services are driven by patient need and are genuinely patient centred;
» a useful validation tool for implementing guidelines, processes and protocols; and
» an enabler to making the patient voice heard in the global arena of health care.
By 2011, the “Patients for Patient Safety” network already comprised 214 patient safety champions representing
51 countries. Collaborative agreements had been signed with 13 supporting organizations, while the development
of an “associate member” tier was under way.
For more information on WHO activities with respect to patient safety, see Annex 6 and the WHO web site (7).
Method
Literature on the relationship between patient participation and patient safety
Two systematic reviews from 2010 looked at patient involvement in safety (8,9). Both
included studies published up to the year 2008. An additional search has been conducted
Patients’ experiences and patient safety
119