World Patient Safety Day is an annual celebration to enhance global understanding and foster collaboration among healthcare professionals, patients, leaders, and families to improve patient safety. It is a day to recognize that patient safety is a crucial aspect of healthcare that affects everyone.
History of World Patient Safety Day
World Patient Safety Day was established by the World Health Organization (WHO) and is observed on September 17 yearly. The day was first celebrated in 2019, following the adoption of a resolution on “Global Action on Patient Safety” during the 72nd World Health Assembly held in May 2019.
Objectives of World Patient Safety Day
- Raise Awareness: Increase awareness about the need for improved patient safety practices.
- Promote Actions: Encourage stakeholders, including healthcare workers, policymakers, and patients, to take actions that enhance patient safety.
- Strengthen Systems: Advocate for establishing robust healthcare systems and processes that prioritize patient safety.
- Support Patients and Families: Empower patients and their families to become active participants in their own care.
Themes of World Patient Safety Day
Each year, World Patient Safety Day focuses on a specific theme that addresses different aspects of patient safety.
This year’s (2024) theme is “Improving diagnosis for patient safety” with the slogan “Get it right, make it safe!” These themes not only raise awareness but also drive actionable steps to improve patient safety globally.
Here are some past themes for World Patient Safety Day:
- 2019: “Patient Safety: A Global Health Priority”
- This inaugural theme highlighted the importance of making patient safety a global health priority and called for urgent action to reduce patient harm.
- 2020: “Health Worker Safety: A Priority for Patient Safety”
- This theme emphasized the safety of health workers as essential to ensuring patient safety, being especially significant during the COVID-19 pandemic. WHO urged all stakeholders to “Speak up for health worker safety!”
- 2021: “Safe Maternal and Newborn Care”
- This theme focused on the importance of safety in maternal and newborn care, promoting practices that prevent harm to mothers and babies.
- 2022: “Medication Without Harm”
- This theme highlighted the critical area of medication safety, aiming to reduce severe, avoidable medication-related harm in healthcare.
- 2023: “Engaging Patients for Patient Safety”
- This theme stressed the role of patients and their families in improving patient safety and encouraging their active participation in their own care.
Improving diagnosis for patient safety: Get it right, make it safe!
This 2024 world patient safety theme focuses on improving diagnosis, highlighting the critical importance of correct and timely diagnosis in ensuring patient safety and improving health outcomes.
As a hospitalist physician since 1998 (for the past 26 years), I cannot emphasize enough the importance of correct and timely diagnosis in both inpatient and outpatient clinical settings. I have experienced missed or delayed diagnoses firsthand, both with my patients and my family members. These delays or incorrect diagnoses commonly result from not listening to patients effectively, not thinking critically enough, or prejudging patients. Such issues lead to prolonged illness or even disability and premature death.
For diagnoses to be made timely, patients and/or their near community, also need to be active participants and not wait too late to see a doctor and seek help.
Raising awareness for proper and timely diagnoses is one of the important roles of World Patient Safety Day.
Activities and Events for the World Patient Safety Day
- Educational Campaigns: Disseminate information and educational materials about patient safety.
- Workshops and Seminars: Organize workshops, seminars, and training sessions to discuss and promote best practices in patient safety.
- Policy Advocacy: Engage with policymakers to develop and implement policies that improve patient safety.
- Community Engagement: Involve communities in discussions about the importance of patient safety and how they can contribute.
World Patient Safety Day serves as a reminder that the well-being of patients is at the heart of healthcare and that everyone has a role to play in ensuring safety in healthcare settings.
For more information, read WHO information here.
Jasminka Vukanovic-Criley MD, FACP, FHM is a multiple award-winning physician, from cancer researcher, internal medicine physician, and Medical School Associate Clinical Professor to entrepreneur. She has mentored many undergraduate, graduate, and postgraduate students and faculty. She is the Principal Investigator on studies from the National Institutes of Health and the U.S. Department of Education creating research-driven #edtech games and digital media to improve health, civics, science education, and healthy habits. Dr Criley is also a founding Board member of Physician’s Weekly. She can be reached on X at @criley_md and at www.linkedin.com/in/jasminka-criley-md