Patient safety in Japan: national reporting and learning system (HSSIB, 20 February 2025)

Summary

In this guest blog for HSSIB, Professor Shin Ushiro, Executive Board Member of the Japan Council for Quality Health Care (JQ) and Deputy Director and Professor of Patient Safety at Kyushu University Hospital, talks about the development of the national reporting and learning system in Japan, and its value to frontline healthcare staff.

"I believe that the Japan Council for Quality Health Care's (JQ) database of adverse events and near-misses is unique. The JQ initiated the database with close communication with registered facilities, saying that the database is developed for patient safety and therefore names of institution and frontline workers are not disclosed. The database is used not only by frontline workers and researchers, but by manufacturers, as their products may be involved in adverse events and near-misses."