Conference outputs

In the conference Patient Safety Research – Shaping the European Agenda, 350 researchers and policy-makers from over 60 countries came to Porto, Portugal, during the Portuguese Presidency of the European Union, to explore existing European patient safety research, and to develop conclusions for further action.

Outputs

The conference promoted exchange between official organisations – including the World Health Organization, European Commission, ministries of health and NGO representative groups – and researchers themselves, through presentations and structured discussions.

New thematic networks on patient safety research were established, and wider international participation and contact was achieved for European Neighbourhood Policy countries ( Mediterranean and European countries in transition), and globally.

Key proposals from the conference included:

Areas of organisational focus :

  • encouraging cross-disciplinary approaches to patient safety research
  • developing IT for data collection and regulatory systems.
  • involving a wider range of stakeholders, including patients themselves.
  • promoting education and training in patient safety research
  • increasing funding for European patient safety research

Areas of research focus :

  • improving definitions for patient safety
  • understanding human action in patient safety systems
  • investigating standardized patient safety data sets across Europe
  • creating electronic access to patient safety research findings
  • coordinating pan-European early warning systems of patient risks (eg medical devices, clinical practices)

The evaluation of the conference showed positive appreciation and strong desire to maintain patient safety research as a focus for European activity

Publications

Publications from the conference include a