Patient safety events cause harm across a variety of veterinary care settings: a global retrospective analysis (30 April 2025)

Summary

This study described the characteristics of voluntarily reported patient safety events (PSEs) in primary care, specialty, and emergency veterinary facilities in the US and Europe.

It found errors in veterinary healthcare occurred at a predictable rate. Veterinary practices of all types should collect data on the PSEs occurring in their facilities to identify opportunities to improve the safety of their patients.

Patient safety in veterinary care settings reflects some of the challenges we face in healthcare.