Authors

José Antonio Forcada Segarra

Position

Enfermero. Responsable de Docencia y Formación. Centro de Salud Pública de Castellón. Coordinador de Grupos de trabajo en Vacunación.

Contact address

Centro de Salud Pública de Castellón. Avda. del Mar, 12. 12003 Castellón.

Abstract

Hundreds of thousands of people die each year as a result of health care errors. Since the last decade there has been increasing awareness of the need to intervene to prevent harm to health care system users and several initiatives have been set in motion in different areas. The World Health Organisation has promoted the International Alliance for Patient Safety. Its programme includes a series of measures deemed to be essential to reduce the number of diseases, traumatisms and deaths suffered by patients. Its objective can be summarised by the motto “Above all, no harm”. In Spain, the Ministry of Healthcare and Social Policy has implemented a series of initiatives aimed at improving patient safety. The implementation of these policies in autonomous communities has been performed by means of inter-territorial cohesion funds. Scientific societies have also adhered to these policies, endorsing the inclusion of patient safety as a key element in the intervention. In the Community of Valencia, via the Health Department, research projects have been financed to favour the improvement of knowledge in areas of top priority that help provide scientific evidence for strategies and quality improvement actions. One of these projects is developed with the participation of the Nursing Council of the Community of Valencia and consists of an intravenous therapy quality improvement study (INCATIV).

Keywords:

patient safety; quality improvementadverse effects

Versión en Español

Título:

Seguridad del paciente: acciones para evitar daños asistenciales