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Event
HIMSS25 - European Health Conference & Exhibition
Mark Hughes posted an event in Community Calendar
untilThis HIMSS flagship event is Europe’s leading digital health conference. With expert-led sessions, it’s a chance for health tech leaders to network, share ideas, discuss real-world data and build partnerships. Attendees include CIOs and senior executives, health providers and payers, C-Suite tech leaders and entrepreneurs, and government officials. You can find the programme for the event here. You can find registration details here. -
EventHealthcare is undergoing rapid transformation, driven by digital innovation, medical advancements, and shifting care models. At the same time, growing demand for care, workforce shortages and financial constraints are putting pressure on healthcare systems, reshaping how care is delivered and how patient safety is ensured. As roles and responsibilities evolve, professionals must adapt to new ways of working, integrating innovation while ensuring human oversight remains central to patient safety. Meanwhile, staffing shortages and cross-border migration are redistributing tasks across professions, often beyond traditional boundaries, introducing new risks and requiring proactive approaches to provide safe, coordinated care. This conference will not only focus on risks but also on possible solutions. How can we anticipate rather than react; leverage innovation without increasing complexity; involve the patients in the safety of their own care; support those who work every day to keep patients safe? Register
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Content ArticleThis blog describes the approach taken by researchers at the Exeter HSDR Evidence Synthesis Centre when they performed a systematic review on safety management systems in healthcare. They research practice in five English-speaking high-income countries: The Netherlands, Australia, Canada, Ireland and New Zealand. Having started their literature review, the team realised that whilst the components of a safety management system—leadership commitment and safety policy, safety risk management, safety assurance and safety promotion and culture—were present in the patient safety approaches of all of the countries we were looking at, only one of them had actually implemented safety management systems in their healthcare system. This resulted in a change of approach which looked at the differences in how key components of a safety management system were implemented. Read the research study: The implementation of Safety Management Systems in healthcare: a systematic review and international comparison (March 2025)
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News Article
Brexit a key factor in worst UK medicine shortages in four years, report says
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Drug shortages in the UK have risen to their worst level for four years, official figures show, with Brexit considered a key reason so many medications are scarce. Drug companies notified the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) about disruptions to supply 1,938 times during last year – the highest number since the 1,967 seen in 2021. Medications to treat epilepsy and cystic fibrosis are among those that pharmacists are finding it hard or impossible to get hold of, creating risks for patients’ health. The figures have emerged in a new report by the Nuffield Trust health thinktank, which obtained them under freedom of information laws from the DHSC, which oversees the availability of drugs UK-wide. Mark Dayan, a policy analyst at the Nuffield Trust and its Brexit programme lead, said: “This wave of medicine shortages has already meant people struggle to find the drugs their doctors told them were needed for conditions like epilepsy and cystic fibrosis. It’s very worrying that it appears to be rolling on at full force into a third year.” The report says that while drug shortages have become a problem globally in recent years, the UK is facing “a worsening situation” compared with the rest of Europe because of Brexit. “Elevated and troubling levels of medicine shortages are continuing, with no consistent sign of improvement. The UK has had the lowest import growth in medicines of any G7 country, driven by a reduction in EU imports,” the thinktank adds. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 22 March 2025 Related reading on the hub: Medicines shortages: minimising the impact on patients (a blog by Catherine Picton) Medication supply issues: A pharmacist’s perspective Medication supply issues: Mast cell activation syndrome (MCAS) Share on the hub your experiences of medication shortages: Medication supply issues: have you been affected? -
News ArticleLife expectancy improvement is stalling across Europe with England experiencing the biggest slowdown. Experts are blaming this on an alarming mix of poor diet, mass inactivity and soaring obesity. The average annual growth in life expectancy across the continent fell from 0.23 years between 1990 and 2011 to 0.15 years between 2011 and 2019, according to research published in the Lancet Public Health journal. Of the 20 countries studied, every one apart from Norway saw life expectancy growth fall. England suffered the largest decline in life expectancy improvement, with a fall in average annual improvement of 0.18 years, from 0.25 between 1990 and 2011 to 0.07 between 2011 and 2019. The second slowdown of life expectancy growth in Europe was in Northern Ireland (reducing by 0.16 years), followed by Wales and Scotland (both falling by 0.15 years). Sarah Price, NHS England’s director of public health, said: “This important study reinforces that prevention is the cornerstone of a healthier society, and is exactly why it will be such a key part of the 10-year health plan which we are working with [the] government on. “The slowdown in life expectancy improvements, particularly due to cardiovascular disease and cancer, highlights the urgent need for stronger action on the root causes – poor diet, physical inactivity, and obesity.” Read full story Source: The Guardian, 18 February 2025
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Content ArticleDecades of steady improvements in life expectancy in Europe slowed down from around 2011, well before the COVID-19 pandemic, for reasons which remain disputed. We aimed to assess how changes in risk factors and cause-specific death rates in different European countries related to changes in life expectancy in those countries before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. The countries that best maintained improvements in life expectancy after 2011 (Norway, Iceland, Belgium, Denmark, and Sweden) did so through better maintenance of reductions in mortality from cardiovascular diseases and neoplasms, underpinned by decreased exposures to major risks, possibly mitigated by government policies. The continued improvements in life expectancy in these five countries during 2019–21 indicate that these countries were better prepared to withstand the COVID-19 pandemic. By contrast, countries with the greatest slowdown in life expectancy improvements after 2011 went on to have some of the largest decreases in life expectancy in 2019–21. These findings suggest that government policies that improve population health also build resilience to future shocks. Such policies include reducing population exposure to major upstream risks for cardiovascular diseases and neoplasms, such as harmful diets and low physical activity, tackling the commercial determinants of poor health, and ensuring access to affordable health services.
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News Article
EU acts to boost cybersecurity in hospitals
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
The European Commission has introduced an action plan to strengthen the cybersecurity of hospitals and healthcare providers across the European Union (EU). The initiative includes creating a pan-European Cybersecurity Support Centre, managed by the European Network and Information Security Agency, to address the rising number of cyber threats targeting healthcare institutions. In 2023 alone, 309 significant incidents were reported in healthcare, more than in any other critical sector. “The healthcare sector faces the highest proportion of high-impact cybersecurity incidents,” Robin van Kessel, PhD, a Hoffmann fellow in health system financing and payment models at the London School of Economics, London, United Kingdom, and the World Economic Forum, told Medscape Medical News. This disproportionate impact reflects the fact that healthcare organisations store a large amount of sensitive patient data, including medical histories, diagnoses, and treatment information. Cyberattacks on healthcare systems can disrupt critical medical services, thus causing potentially severe consequences for patient care and safety. Read full story Source: Medscape Medical News, 27 January 2025 -
Content ArticleUnder the theme “Enhancing Patient Safety Through Digital Innovation: The Missing Links”, the European Patient Safety Foundation Conference 2024 brought together healthcare professionals, patient representatives, policymakers, industry leaders, and academics.
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Content ArticleIn Finland, the safety investigation of social and healthcare was initiated by SIAF (the Safety Investigation Authority Finland) in 2021. The branch for social and healthcare investigation is housed under the Safety Investigation Authority, alongside branches for aviation, railroad, maritime, and other accident investigations. In Finland the establishment of a branch for health and social care safety investigation was preceded by extensive national and international preparatory work. As a part of this preparation, valuable advice and lessons were drawn from other international safety investigation organisations, particularly the Health Services Safety Investigations Body (HSSIB). Hanna Tiirinki of the Safety Investigation Authority Finland cites how HSSIB has significantly influenced Finland’s approach at the beginning of its national safety investigation journey.
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Content Article
This report presents the first cross-sectional analysis of quality of care and patient safety in the World Health Organization (WHO) European Region. It is based on an analysis of macro-level data from international sources and the results of a WHO survey conducted in 53 Member States. Critical gaps identified include limited implementation of national action plans and policies for quality of care and patient safety and wide variations in indicator outcomes for dimensions of quality of care, health system functions and population health outcomes across the region. Key findings in this report included: A scaling up of implemented national action plans for quality and patient safety, including a demonstration of learning and continuous improvement of better practices, processes and outcomes, is needed in the majority of countries. Only one third of countries implemented both a national quality of care and patient safety action plan. Hospital accreditation systems are implemented in only a minority of countries, hindered by a limited availability of evidence, particularly on their cost-effectiveness. Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) plans are widely available in countries, but ample opportunities remain to combat AMR. The majority of countries (79%) have implemented an AMR plan, but persistent disparities in AMR prevalence for Escherichia coli (E. coli) and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) remain across the region. Patient or public representation in national health governance is nearly non-existent, with only 13% of countries using this policy mechanism. Health misinformation prevention plans are absent in nearly all countries. Only four countries reported the use of a health misinformation plan. Such plans are important because they allow countries to deal effectively with infodemics during emergencies, including disease outbreaks, as well as with behaviours related to immunization adherence and noncommunicable diseases. The scarcity of the health and care workforce has significant consequences for the delivery of high-quality care. A limited number of countries have a national approved priority/essential medical devices list. Data show that only 22 countries have a national list of approved priority/essential devices. Electronic health records (EHR) are implemented in a low number of countries, jeopardizing the effective uptake of quality improvement interventions. Less than three quarters of countries (70%) reported having implemented EHRs, with only 13% having guidelines for quality and safety in telehealth. Patient safety-related indicators suggest a need for improvement with a high number of patient-reported medical mistakes. People-centredness indicators highlight important gaps in data collection on patient-reported outcome measures and experiences. Less than one third of the countries report on people-centredness indicators. Patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) and experiences (PREMs) have important consequences for public confidence in the health system, health-care utilisation patterns, retention in care, and people’s decision to bypass facilities. Aggregated data mask inequalities within countries, showing a need for local systems of data collection and an evidence-base for equity-oriented policies. Poor population health outcomes highlight the need for a life-course approach and intersectoral action taking a quality of care perspective on the health of individuals and generations. Policy actions Based on the findings of the survey and towards addressing some of the challenges revealed across countries, a number of prospective actions to promote and/or ensure quality of care and patient safety emerge from the analysis. Invest in whole-system quality that comprises integrated quality planning, quality control, and quality improvement activities. Invest in the development of national action plans and policies for quality of care and patient safety. Develop a harmonised set of indicators for measuring and continuously improving quality of care, including measures that matter most to patients. Ensure patient and public representation in national health governance. Establish clear, evidence-based standards for all care settings. Re-design models of care around the needs and preferences of patients. Invest in an health and care workforce with the capacity and capability to meet the demands and needs of the population for high-quality care. Invest in robust public budgeting for quality of care and reconfigure payments to incentivise value in health service delivery. Develop comprehensive and multistakeholder-led biotechnology sector policies to address quality and affordability for patients and health-care systems. Invest in digital health solutions that support quality of care. -
News Article
UK falls “well below” EU average on doctors per population, report finds
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
The UK had a shortage of around 176 000 doctors, nurses, and midwives in 2022 and has become over-reliant on international recruitment, warns a report by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The report, which looked at the state of health in the EU, found that in total EU countries had an estimated shortage of 1.2 million doctors, nurses, and midwives. It cited multiple factors, including ageing populations, difficult working conditions, staff burnout, and challenges presented by the covid pandemic. Significant inequalities also continue to exist between EU member states. Read full story (paywalled) Source: BMJ, 21 November 2024 -
News ArticleA health scandal in which newborn babies were allowed to die for profit has cast a harsh light on Turkey’s growing reliance on private hospitals. Eleven private hospitals in and around Istanbul have been permanently closed as part of the “newborn gang” (yenidoğan çetesi) scandal, which has dominated Turkish headlines for three weeks. On 18 November, 47 people will stand trial on charges including negligent homicide, fraud, and forgery. Prosecutors are asking for sentences of 589 years for the alleged ringleaders—two doctors and an ambulance worker. Seventeen of those charged are nurses and 14 are doctors, including the chief physicians of six hospitals. Five more are hospital directors or managers, and one is a hospital owner. The rest are hospital secretaries and accountants, as well as workers at the ambulance and referral services of Istanbul municipality and province. The indictment against the 47 defendants names 12 babies who died through negligent homicide, but a report submitted to the government by Istanbul police, who led the investigation into the gang, claims that “they have caused the death of hundreds of babies.” Read full story (paywalled) Source: BMJ, 7 November 2024
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News ArticleA woman died during an operation after travelling to Turkey for slimming surgery, an inquest heard. Janet Savage, 54, was undergoing a gastric “stomach sleeve” operation but never came around from the procedure. Savage, from Penrhosgarnedd near Bangor, had travelled to the private Ozel Rich hospital in the Mediterranean resort city of Antalya and hoped to lose three stone, after earlier taking Ozempic. A senior coroner at an inquest in Caernarfon found that Savage, a driving examiner, died from acute bleeding loss due to injury to her abdominal aorta, which had an attempted repair, after gastric sleeve surgery. Savage had contacted a firm called Regenesis Health Travel, based in Stratford-upon-Avon in Warwickshire, the inquest heard. It organises flights, hotels, surgical and non-surgical procedures at Ozel Rich hospital. In a statement, Alison Ergun, Regenesis’s client service administrator, said Savage had told her in an exchange of Facebook messages in July last year that she was taking Ozempic, a medicine designed to treat people with type 2 diabetes, and wanted to lose three stone. The women switched to WhatsApp to take the booking and the operation was booked at the hospital in Antalya for 5 August last year. The inquest heard Ergun was later informed by her operations manager that there had been “complications”; Savage had stopped breathing and had been taken to intensive care. She died the following day, at 7.45am on 6 August. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 12 November 2024
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EventAt a time when the potential of technological innovation to improve patient safety and patient outcomes is increasingly undeniable, tangible results are still a long way off. Our aim is to provide an opportunity for discussing the missing links that prevent the vision of breakthrough digital solutions from translating into genuine improvements in patient safety and outcomes. It will be held in the prestigious Colegio de Médicos of Madrid. This venue, with its amphitheatres charged with medical history, reflects the ambition we have for this conference: to be a forum that brings together the views of all the stakeholders involved in patient safety in order to achieve concrete improvements. Register
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EventSpeaker: Professor Ian Leistikow; Adviser at the Dutch Health & Youth Care Inspectorate and Professor at Erasmus School of Health Policy & Management, Erasmus University Rotterdam, the Netherlands Challenges that health and care faces, translate to challenges for the regulatory authorities. Classic regulatory strategies aimed at compliance increasingly fall short in contributing to quality of (health)care. In this webinar Ian will use the model of ‘value driven regulation’ to show how the Dutch Inspectorate strives to keep up with the dynamics of the sectors it regulates, by keeping its eye on creating societal value. Ian will also give an overview of the broad range of scientific research projects within the Inspectorate aimed at improving the positive impact of its regulation. Find out more
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Content ArticleThe aim of the study was to explore the factors that affect the safety attitude and teamwork climate of Cyprus maternity units and Cypriot midwives. The study found that the safety climate in the maternity settings was negative across all six safety climate domains examined. The higher mean total score on team work and safety climate in the more experienced group of midwives is a predominant finding for the maternity units of Cyprus. It could be suggested that younger midwives need more support and teamwork practice, in a friendly environment, to enhance the safety and teamwork climate through experience and self-confidence.
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Content ArticleThis study looked at nursing within the UK and The Netherlands' health sectors, which are both highly regulated with policies to increase inclusiveness. It aimed to investigate the interplay between employment conditions and policy measures at sectoral level, in order to identify how these both facilitate and limit employment participation for disabled workers.
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News ArticleTo new parents processing the shock of delivery and swimming in hormones, newborns can feel like a tiny, terrifying mystery; unexploded ordinance in a crib. “We were totally unprepared,” says Odilia. Neither she or her husband had ever changed a nappy and had no idea the baby needed feeding every three hours. “If you’re a new mum or dad, you have no idea,” recalls Anouk, a new mother. “I’m a doctor,” says Zarah, another new mother, incredulously. “So, you would expect that I’d know something, and I knew some things, but you really don’t have any clue.” The difference for these new parents, compared to the rest of us, is that they gave birth in the Netherlands. That meant help was instantly at hand in the form of the kraamzorg, or maternity carer. Everyone who gives birth in the Netherlands, regardless of their circumstances, has the legal right – covered by social insurance – to support from a maternity carer for the following week. These trained professionals come into your home daily, usually for eight days, providing advice, reassurance and practical help. It’s a different role to midwives, who continue to monitor women and babies after the birth in the Netherlands; the maternity carer updates the midwife on the mother and baby’s health and progress as well as supporting the parents as they come to terms with their new child. A maternity carer in the Netherlands, explains Betty de Vries of Kenniscentrum Kraamzorg, the organisation that registers maternity carers, “takes care of the woman the first week, advises her on breastfeeding and bottle feeding, hygiene, gives advice … everything to do with safe motherhood and a safe baby. She is there for the whole day most of the time so she can see how they are doing.” Her colleague, director Esther van der Zwan, adds: “It’s a lot of responsibility.” To prepare, maternity carers train for three years – a combination of academic and on-the-job placements – and have regular refresher training in everything from CPR to breastfeeding support.
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News Article
Several hospitalised in Austria after using suspected fake diabetes drug
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Several people have been admitted to hospital in Austria after using suspected fake versions of Novo Nordisk’s diabetes drug Ozempic, the country’s health safety body has said, the first report of harm to users as a European hunt for counterfeiters widened. The patients were reported to have suffered hypoglycaemia and seizures, serious side-effects that indicate that the product contained insulin instead of Ozempic’s active ingredient semaglutide, the health safety regulator Bundesamt für Sicherheit im Gesundheitswesen (BASG) said on Monday. The European Medicines Agency (EMA) warned last week that pens falsely labelled as Ozempic were in circulation, and Austria’s criminal investigation service said on Monday that the fake injection pens could still be in circulation. The Danish maker of the drug, Novo Nordisk, has warned of a rise in the online offers of counterfeit Ozempic as well as its weight-loss drug Wegovy, both based on semaglutide. “It appears that this shortage is being exploited by criminal organisations to bring counterfeits of Ozempic to market,” said BASG. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 24 October 2023 -
News Article
UK facing ‘brain drain’ of cancer researchers after failure to join EU scheme
Patient-Safety-Learning posted a news article in News
Top young cancer researchers are leaving the UK in a “brain drain” fuelled by the continuing failure to reach an agreement over the EU’s study programme, scientists warn. The two-and-a-half-year delay in joining the £85bn Horizon Europe scheme, the largest collaborative research programme in the world, has “damaged the UK’s reputation” and made it more difficult to attract and retain the brightest researchers into the nation’s labs. Cancer Research UK (CRUK) surveyed 84 cancer specialists about Horizon Europe and found that three-quarters of respondents favoured association with the programme compared with only 11% who wanted the UK to go it alone with the government’s plan B, known as Pioneer. Prof Julian Downward, head of the Oncogene Biology Lab at the Francis Crick Institute in London, said: “We need Horizon Europe very badly. The current situation is damaging UK science every day. We are losing top junior faculty regularly who decide to move to EU countries so they can take up European Research Council grants.” Read full story Source: Guardian, 25 August 2023 -
Content ArticleThe Bucharest Declaration is the outcome of a World Health Organization (WHO) high-level regional meeting on health and care workforce in Europe that took place in Bucharest 22-23 March 2023. It makes 11 statements relating to the workforce crisis facing countries across Europe about retention, recruitment and staff safety.
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Content ArticleHealth and care workers in all parts of Europe are experiencing overwork, with high levels of burnout. This opinion piece in the BMJ looks at the issue of healthcare professionals leaving European health systems to take early retirement or work in other countries where pay and conditions are better. It highlights the causes of this exodus, including increasing patient complexity, salary erosion and work-life balance. It argues that policies should prioritise retaining existing staff, as increased training numbers offer only a partial, long term answer.to the crisis, highlighting potential approaches governments can take to retain highly qualified healthcare staff.
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Content ArticleAll countries of the WHO European Region currently face severe challenges related to the health and care workforce (HCWF). This report focuses on identifying effective policy and planning responses to these HCWF challenges across the Region. The report presents an overview of the HCWF situation in the Region (focusing on medical doctors, nurses, midwives, dentists, pharmacists and physiotherapists, for whom data are available) and identifies relevant policy options, their expected benefits and potential facilitators or barriers to successful implementation. Examples of sound evidence-informed practices in countries are also provided. The aim of the report is to describe the data, rather than to analyse. Data supplied by countries have been used, but in many cases these have been incomplete. It is expected that data will grow progressively in future. No data on informal health workers are included.
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Content ArticlePatient safety in oncology should remain a standard indicator of quality of care and a critical objective on the EU health policy agenda as all European citizens deserve the same level of safeguarding and protection at all stages of their healthcare. Patient safety is also a critical indicator of life overall, as any irreversible or reversible patient safety issue potentially affects the quality of life. This report from the European Network for Safer Healthcare calls for 10 actions for European policy makers and national health authorities. Implement patient safety within the framework of Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan and related flagship initiatives, such as the European Cancer Inequalities Registry, the European Health Data Space as well as in the EU4Health annual work programmes. Update the 2014 Council conclusions on patient safety and quality of care, including the infection prevention and control of healthcare-associated infection (HAI) and antimicrobial resistance. Place medication safety requirements in the Pharmaceutical Strategy for Europe, in the EU revision of the general pharmaceuticals legislation and in the recent Commission’s proposal of the European Health Data Space through digitalisation of medication management and traceability systems in healthcare settings to minimise medication errors, improve affordability and accessibility of medicines, efficiency of healthcare professionals and standardise and collect data to evaluate the impact of cancer medication on patient outcome. Create a European framework on healthcare-associated infection (HAI) prevention and control (including surgical site infections, catheter-related bloodstream infections and sepsis) and increase adherence to ECDC evidence-based guidelines and protocols. Develop harmonised protocols for the right selection algorithms of vascular access management in cancer settings and training healthcare professionals to prevent vascular complications (such as extravasations and phlebitis). Facilitate the systematic exchange of best practices between healthcare stakeholders both at national and European level to address the issue of variability in the standards of care. Incorporate to the European Cancer Centre’s (ECC) Certification Programme a one cross-tumour Catalogue Requirement for patient safety based on existing clinical evidence. Improve occupational conditions to protect the safety and well-being of healthcare professionals working in cancer care, by promoting education and development opportunities for health personnel, addressing oncology workforce shortages, and reducing unnecessary barriers to professional mobility. Invest in medical technologies and adopt process-improvement techniques to enhance patient safety, enable improvement of oncology treatment and improve communication between healthcare professions and the community. Work systematically on the improvement and development of a safety culture in all healthcare settings whereby active leadership, open communication, transparency and accountability are indispensable components.
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Content ArticleTo receive and participate in medical care, patients need high quality information about treatments, tests, and services—including information about the benefits of and risks from prescription drugs. Provision of information can support ethical principles of patient autonomy and informed consent, facilitate shared decision making, and help to ensure that treatment is sensitive to, and meets the needs and priorities of, individuals. Patients value high quality, written information to supplement and reinforce the verbal information given by clinicians. This is the case even for those who do not want to participate in shared decision making. The aim of this study was to evaluate the frequency with which relevant and accurate information about the benefits and related uncertainties of anticancer drugs are communicated to patients and clinicians in regulated information sources in Europe. The findings of this study highlight the need to improve the communication of the benefits and related uncertainties of anticancer drugs in regulated information sources in Europe to support evidence informed decision making by patients and their clinicians.
