The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 274 No 7346 p480
23 April 2005

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EU: Patient safety PDF (110K)

European patient safety call

Pharmacists in Europe have joined doctors, the pharmaceutical industry and patient groups to call for patient safety to be given greater priority in health care.

Their call has support from the current Luxembourg presidency of the European Union and from the UK, which will hold the presidency next.

A joint declaration following a conference in Luxembourg earlier this month calls on the EU to establish a European forum where patient safety can be promoted. National governments are asked to consider setting up voluntary confidential reporting systems for adverse events and near misses.

The declaration says that the health sector lags behind other industries and services that have introduced systematic safety processes.