Wilton Park report: Global action on patient safety

Summary

In association with the United Kingdom’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), the Wilton Park High Level Forum on Patient Safety convened experts from around the world to discuss priorities in patient safety at a global level. The two-day concentrated discussion covered the articulation of the burden of harm, possibilities to drive action towards improvement and the various roles different stakeholders play in fostering a culture of continuous improvement for safer care.

Content

High level findings

• There is an opportune ‘policy window’ for change in patient safety.
• The burden of unsafe care is clear and evidence-based both locally and globally.
• Momentum towards safer care is building at local, national and international levels.
• Culture is equal to policy and public momentum in order for safety innovations to land, take root and flourish.
• In order for safety opportunities to materialise, they require a concerted effort towards collaboration, innovation and education.

Agreed actions

• Create national learning systems.
• Ensure meaningful collection and responses to patient feedback.
• Develop curricula for patient safety including curricula for investigations.
• Develop local and global portals for sharing ideas and best practice.
• Design systems to prevent harm with aligned priorities.
• Collect data about impact and evaluation.
• Harness existing digital innovations to improve patient safety.

Wilton Park is an Executive Agency of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.