Patients can contribute to their own safety by taking part in the care and treatment they receive. Patient empowerment can indeed lead to a reduction in medical errors and the avoidance of unnecessary suffering.

22 volunteer patient safety champions across England and Wales will start ensuring that patients are considered in every safety decision that affects them. A survey published by the Health Service Journal (HSJ) in May 2008 noted that different types of organisation report untoward incidents to different bodies, which, combined with the fact that definitions vary, leads to vast differences in evaluating medical incidents. Indeed, a quarter of those surveyed by the HSJ were aware of a patient safety incident occurring at their trust over the past year that had not been reported. We believe this is not acceptable and Member States should facilitate an open learning culture where mistakes and incidents are reported immediately and communicated widely, without fear of ‘name and shame’, and are correctly catalogued for cross comparisons. Patients deserve to know the experience and true results of the clinicians treating them. Enabling patients to check the accuracy of their own medical records increases patient safety and leads to better reporting where the reporter is accountable.

The Pelvic Pain Support Network has been advocating, notably at the International Alliance of Patient Organizations’ (IAPO) third Global Patient’s Congress in Budapest, the need for specialised care to be received in specialised centres. The quality of care is improved when specialised services are provided in centres that have the facilities and expertise on hand to provide them. Clinician’s skills improve when they carry out complex procedures on a regular basis in the right environment. We will continue to enforce this message throughout the year for example at a cross-party parliamentary group meeting on Patient Safety at the House of Commons, where I will speak about my personal experience of adhesions and pelvic pain. Patients need to be involved in medical decisions affecting the treatment and care they receive.

As a member of HFE, which has championed patient safety and access issues, I look forward to continuing to develop this approach as part of the HFE effort to raise awareness of these issues at the EU level.

Judy Birch
Individual member of HFE and Chair of the Pelvic Pain Support Network

For more information about Judy Birch, please click here. 

This Editorial only expresses the view of Judy Birch but not of HFE.