The Long and Winding Road to Developing a Patient Safety Culture

Every healthcare system should be able to demonstrate progress towards developing an ingrained patient safety culture. There are many research reports discussing the intrinsic link between universal health coverage, health quality and patient safety—you really can't have one without the other. The World Health Organization (WHO) et al (2018) put the issue neatly in perspective:

‘But universal health coverage should not be discussed and planned, let alone implemented, without a focus on quality … If countries can afford to provide any health care—and even the poorest can and should do so— they must provide care of good quality. The alternative—poor-quality care—is not only harmful but also wastes precious resources that can be invested in other important drivers of social and economic development …’

‘But universal health coverage should not be discussed and planned, let alone implemented, without a focus on quality … If countries can afford to provide any health care—and even the poorest can and should do so— they must provide care of good quality. The alternative—poor-quality care—is not only harmful but also wastes precious resources that can be invested in other important drivers of social and economic development …’