Focus on Patient Safety

A stronger emphasis on patient-centered care in a sustainable health care system – that was one of the priorities of this year’s Summit. In addition, the following topics were also discussed:

• Patient safety culture
• Patient safety in an ageing society
• Patient safety needs for achieving universal health coverage in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs)
• Information and Communication Technology (ICT) for patient safety
• Economics of patient safety

The Third Global Ministerial Summit on Patient Safety included input from German experts. A major contribution was the presentation from the German Coalition for Patient Safety (APS), which features healthcare actors were joining forces to take patient safety forward.
Patient protection and patient safety have been key priorities of Germany’s Federal Government. The Coalition Agreement reads: "The patients‘ wellbeing is the ultimate yardstick of health policy measures”.
The Bonn Summit saw the adoption of a joint initiative to declare 17th September as the International Patient Safety Day.