Great strides made in Patient Safety, but much distance left to go
by Tonio Borg, European Commissioner for Health
Some 8-12% of EU hospital patients suffer unnecessarily from adverse events when hospitalised, and an estimated 4.1 million patients in the EU acquire a health-care associated infection each year, of which 37 000 will die.
A recent report on the implementation of the 2009 Council Recommendation on patient safety, including the prevention and control of healthcare associated infections, shows how the Commission and EU countries have made significant progress in addressing the challenge of patient safety. Such cross-country knowledge about patient safety can provide input to policies at national and EU le
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European Union Network for Patient Safety and Quality of Care Joint Action (PASQ)
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Improving Patient Safety of Hospital Care through Day Surgery (DAYSAFE)
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Implementing Strategic Bundles for Infection Prevention and Management (IMPLEMENT)
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'Hospital toilets still not cleaned a week later, as revealed by invisible marker', by the 2013 finalists from the Slovak Republic
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'Thalassaemia patients lodge a complaint against Cyprus with Europe', by Sophia Theodosiou, 2010 finalist from Cyprus
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'Hospitals - are patients at risk of starving to death?', by Eva Boburkova, 2011 finalist from the Czech Republic
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EU Commissioners recently met with EU Ministers to discuss how to coordinate further steps in a European response to the Ebola epidemic. They call on Member States to continue and strengthen their support and to facilitate repatriation of European citizens as necessary.
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Forthcoming events
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New publications
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Reporting from across Europe
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In the next issue
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Active and Healthy Ageing
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