Patient Safety: Making it Happen! Luxembourg Declaration on Patient Safety

Abstract

Access to high quality healthcare is a key human right recognised and valued by the European Union, its Institutions and the citizens of Europe. Accordingly, patients have a right to expect that every effort is made to ensure their safety as users of all health services.

Background:The health sector is a high-risk area because adverse events,arising from treatment rather than disease, can lead to death, serious damage, complications and patient suffering. Although many hospitals and healthcare settings have procedures in place to ensure patient safety, the health care sector still lags behind other industries and services that have introduced systematic safety processes. A number of investigations from all over the world have underlined the need for and the possibility of reducing the number of adverse events in the health sector. Current data show that almost half of all preventable adverse events are a consequence of medication errors.