Patient and user involvement strengthened - World Patient Safety Day Announcement   You are here: Home » News Detail

Your Healthcare has chosen the World Health Organization’s World Patient Safety day 2023, to announce plans to strengthen the role that patients and service-users will play on its Membership Council.

World Patient Safety Day 2023 will be observed on 17 September under the theme "Engaging patients for patient safety", in recognition of the crucial role patients, families and caregivers play in the safety of healthcare.

Evidence shows that when patients are treated as partners in their care, significant gains are made in safety, patient satisfaction and health outcomes.

Commenting, Ed Montgomery, Your Healthcare’s managing director, said: “When Your Healthcare was set up as a membership organisation, its founders were some of the first to recognise the value of giving staff, service-users and the community real influence in shaping how health and social care services were designed and delivered for local residents.

“By re-shaping our Membership Council to amplify the voices of patients, service-users and the community, Your Healthcare will ensure that patients have a stronger role to play in policy formulation, are represented in governance structures, are engaged in co-designing safety strategies, and continue to be active partners in their own care.

“Over the next year we look forward to providing more platforms and opportunities for patients, families, and our communities to work with our staff members to share their views, concerns, expectations and preferences.”

According to the World Health Organization, with first-hand experience of the entire patient journey, ‘the perspectives of patients, families and caregivers are invaluable in improving patient safety’.

Membership sits at the heart of Your Healthcare and the opinions, views and lived experiences of members help shape the organisation’s future direction. The Membership Council actively contributes to the decisions made by the Board, with its Chair and Vice Chair attending board meetings.

In the 2023 national healthcare workforce survey, 95% of Your Healthcare staff stated they were confident that if they reported an incident it would be acted on, and 99% said that if a friend or relative needed treatment they would be happy with the standard of care provided by the organisation. These are among the highest scores in the country.