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Joint Action on Patient Safety & Quality of Care

by efn efn

Officially launched in May 2012 in Roskilde (Denmark), co-financed by the EU Public Health Programme, and coordinated by the Haute Autorité de Santé (HAS), this 48 months project built on the experience and network of the EU project European Union Network for Patient Safety (EUNetPaS), in which the EFN was also a partner. This Joint Action was aiming to contribute to Patient Safety and good Quality of Care by supporting the implementation of the Council Recommendation on Patient Safety, approved in 2009, through the cooperation between the EU Member States, the EU stakeholders and the international organisations on issues related to quality of health care, including Patient Safety and Patient Involvement, next to promoting the involvement of stakeholders through national platforms organised around PaSQ National Contact Points (NCPs) in every participating EU Member State.

Partner in the project, namely in WPs 4, 5, 6 and 7, and being a key player in helping the coordinator (HAS-France) and the work package leaders in designing the process and last versions of content of the Joint Action prior the European Commission evaluation, until the end of 2011, the EFN believes that this Joint Action has reached its targets, by facilitating the exchange of Member States experiences to improve Patient Safety and Quality of Care at national or regional levels, and within healthcare organisations.

In general term, this Joint Action was aiming to strengthen cooperation between Member States, international organisations and EU stakeholders on issues related to quality of healthcare. One of the main objectives was the creation of a permanent network for Patient Safety in Europe that would reflect on principles of good quality healthcare, patient safety and patient involvement. By sharing experiences and solutions in patient safety and related aspects of quality of care, the EU Member States, the regions, and the healthcare facilities can benefit from the knowledge of the others. A selection of good practices was made, with a preference for those that were relevant for most Member States and their respective healthcare systems.

This work will also contribute to the establishment of national patient safety and quality networks or platforms involving all relevant national stakeholders. In the long run, this voluntary exchange of experiences may lead to a peer review system for quality management systems in healthcare.

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