Collaborative care, health professional development and technology 'keys to patient safety improvement'

Responding to a consultation by the European Commission on the future of EU activity in the field of patient safety, the European Association of Hospital Pharmacists (EAHP) gave a clear message: make collaborative care happen, develop health professional roles, and promote better use of technology.

The European Commission conducted a public consultation to gauge the views of stakeholders on the best next steps for the EU to help member states co-ordinate patient safety improvement. The consultation asked the questions: 'Which areas of patient safety are important for increasing safety of patients in the EU?’ and ' What are the barriers to implementation of patient safety improvements?'.

The consultation came in the context of the 2009 European Council Recommendation on patient safety, agreed by the governments of EU Member states. The recommendation set out desired activities by national health systems in: combatting antimicrobial resistance; better meeting the challenge of healthcare acquired infections; and instilling adverse event reporting systems and cultures of working.

Five years on from the Recommendation and the Commission is leading a review of its implementation, including consideration of renewed recommendations.  Contributions from external stakeholder organizations were consequently invited.

Reflecting on the contents of the 2009 Recommendation, and where room existed for improvement, EAHP picked out three areas that were under-developed in the original recommendations:

1. Collaborative care;
2. patient-centred health professional role development, and;
3. the use of technology.

Speaking about the response made on behalf of the European hospital pharmacy profession, EAHP President Dr Roberto Frontini said: "Any fresh cooperation between EU countries on patient safety must be welcome and I thank the Commission for providing an opportunity to stakeholders to share perspectives.

"There are three areas of healthcare practice which we know can positively impact patient safety: collaborative care, patient-centred health professional role development, and better use of technology. EAHP therefore emphasized these points in our response to the Commission's consultation and we trust they will be positively received and reviewed.

"Beyond this, we also called for the Commission to consider the barriers that prevent implementation of patient safety improvement initiatives, including finance, policy co-ordination and political will.

"Patient safety involves everyone in the health sector, and EAHP hopes open dialogue with stakeholders on achieving continual improvement of patient safety right across Europe can continue. European citizens should not expect any less of their governments."

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