Patient safety, or the reduction of preventable harm to patients, is one of the most important considerations for you and your colleagues over the course of your board tenure.

Patients for Patient Safety Canada is a patient led program of CPSI committed to safety in healthcare. Patients for Patient Safety Canada wants “Every Patient Safe.” We do this by working with healthcare facilities, providers, patients and you, the board. Patients for Patient Safety Canada is a voice for patients in communicating and working with the healthcare system

Dashboards and other data will give you some sense of the numbers, but in addition we encourage you to also seek out the patient safety stories. The stories we ask you to hear will be emotionally wrenching at times, they will speak to you of suffering through not only pain but loss of dignity and they will include stories of the traditionally powerless. This ensures that you maintain a sense of the primary responsibility that healthcare boards hold and will help your organization provide the safest, highest quality care possible.

Patients for Patient Safety Canada wishes you success and courage in your organizational safety improvement journey, and endorse the Effective Governance for Quality and Patient Safety toolkit produced by the Canadian Patient Safety Institute as your starting point.

Never stop asking questions that lead towards learning and improving, and never forget that you and your loved ones are patients and family members too.