Global Patient Safety Summit to be held in Montreux
Bern, 09.02.2023 - Switzerland will be hosting the fifth Global Ministerial Summit on Patient Safety on 23 and 24 February. In presence of the Swiss President Alain Berset, experts and government delegations from all over the world will meet for two days to share their experiences and perspectives on patient safety and quality of care. This year’s summit will be putting a particular focus on the implementation of appropriate concrete measures.
Patient safety is a major public health issue in Switzerland and worldwide. Studies show that between 8 and 10 per cent of hospitalised patients suffer harm to such an extent that they require at least one additional day of in-hospital care. The findings are broadly similar in various countries.
The Global Ministerial Summit on Patient Safety, which is staged with the support of the World Health Organization (WHO), has been held every year since 2016 to bring together political decision-makers and experts in the field to promote patient safety. Switzerland has been entrusted with hosting the fifth edition of the summit, which had originally been scheduled for 2020 but had to be postponed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Delegations from countries around the world, including numerous ministers, and WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus are scheduled to attend.
A broad agenda
The discussions at the summit in Montreux will focus on the implementation of appropriate concrete measures to promote patient safety and sustainably improve it. The patient safety issue extends to a wide range of fields including medication safety, governance and infection prevention. Lessons learnt from the COVID-19 pandemic will also be addressed.
The first day of the summit will be devoted to a series of workshop sessions on specific topics including antibiotic stewardship and use, and the safety of patients with mental health conditions, with the participation of Swiss and international experts. The second day will be introduced by Swiss President Alain Berset and is dedicated to the ministerial delegations sharing their views and findings on best-practice approaches and measures to enhance patient safety.
Address for enquiries
Federal Office of Public Health, Communications, +41 58 462 9505, media@bag.admin.ch
Publisher
General Secretariat FDHA
http://www.edi.admin.ch
Federal Office of Public Health
http://www.bag.admin.ch
