A brief synopsis on Patient Safety, WHO/Europe 2010

A brief synopsis on Patient Safety, WHO/Europe 2010.

“This document provides a simplified and non-exhaustive synopsis of the major international patient safety initiatives – past and present – undertaken in the WHO European Region. While patient safety is a complex issue spanning numerous public health and health-care domains, this document adopts a generic understanding of the subject in respect to avoidable harm.

As such, most of the patient safety interventions chosen for this document have a general and cross-cutting character and do not include the many complementary and dedicated actions developed at various levels of the health system and beyond. Moreover, as patient safety is constantly developing better ways to respond to health, economic, social and environmental challenges, the document is to be seen as a 'snapshot' of the current state of affairs in the WHO European Region, and as a work in progress”.

We can find in this document contents related to taxonomy, legislation, initiatives and consensus on safety in the WHO European region, and the list of initiatives related to patient safety, arranged chronologically from 2004 until this moment.

+Info: A brief synopsis on Patient Safety, WHO/Europe 2010 (pdf file)


Posted by Lola Martín
English version by Erika Céspedes

Drugs and driving

The Agencia Española de Medicamentos y Productos Sanitarios (AEMPS) has posted on its website a new section of drugs and driving.

The packages of medicines that can produce effects that impair the ability to operate a car or a dangerous machine shall have the symbol illustrated here before 2011.

You can consult on this page which active ingredients have to use or not the symbol.

Posted by Jesús Palacio
English version by Erika Céspedes

Report on Quality Plan for the National Health System 2006-2010

The Ministerio de Sanidad y Política Social of Spain has published the report of the activities 2006 - 2010 and the guidelines for this year.

Regarding patient safety -three of the 68 pages of the report- the highlight is the development of a normative reform proposal to allow non-punitive reporting of adverse events, an indispensable item for an effective notification system. We have discussed the last report on this subject in a previous post.

In a few words, these are the planned actions:
-To improve information and training of professionals in Patient Safety.
-To develop a normative reform proposal allowing non-punitive reporting of adverse events.
-To design and trial a notification system of incidents and adverse events.
-To identify and validate a set of key indicators of patient safety to evaluate the strategy.
-To promote projects to boost and evaluate safe practices in the NHS at all levels, in collaboration with the autonomic governments and scientific societies.
-To improve the understanding of adverse events in health-care facilities.
-To strengthen the participation of patients and citizens in the Patient Safety Strategy.


Posted by Fernando Palacio
English version by Erika Céspedes

Welcome to the English version of Sano y Salvo

Sano y Salvo is currently the only website focused on patient safety in primary care. We receive visits from all over the world, which has made us consider the publication of our contents in English.

So we have created the blog safeanhealthypatient.org, in which we will publish the translation of sanoysalvo.es posts.

Publication at this site of the spanish originals will not be exhaustive or synchronous. We will publish the translation of new posts and, as we can, some of the older posts.

Sano y Salvo is currently a collection of the most relevant items published about patient safety in primary care, both at the national (Spain) and international level. Our web searcher engine and the links on the right column allow anyone to find relevant contents and interesting experiences to improve patient safety in primary care.

Now we also consider making these material worldwide available, in English.


Posted by Jesus Palacio, editor of sanoysalvo.es and Erika Céspedes, manager of the English version published in safeandhealthypatient.org