Ensuring safety and quality of health services for patients is crucial for Czech Presidency
The Chief Health Officer of the Czech Republic, Michael Vít, held talks with representatives of the Ministries of Health of the EU Member States and national experts on patient safety at the regular meeting of chief medical officers in Prague on 16 – 17 March.
During the two-day meeting the representatives of the Member States addressed the issue of high-quality and safe health services, which is one of the main priorities in the health area. Examples of the best practices of selected Member States were presented along with current legislative proposals concerning patient safety which are being treated by the EU institutions and examples of practice from real life.
The Czech Republic has fulfilled the strategy for quality care and adopted a national plan for patient safety and quality heath services. It primarily puts emphasis on external evaluation of quality and the safety of health services. Programmes to ensure patient safety are of crucial importance, but also systems for creation and subsequent introduction of national health service standards and indicators are important. An inseparable part is dissemination of information to both experts and the general public and integration of patient safety into the process of lifelong learning for health workers. In this respect the website of the Ministry of Health of the Czech Republic will launch a Portal of quality and safety (for health professionals and the general public). At the same time a so-called Book of Safety will be published, which both health professionals and patients can help disseminate.
“Presently patient awareness varies on both national and Community level. This renders communication between patients and health professionals more difficult. From a Czech point of view it is important to focus on developing the information channels with patients further and to intensify training of health professionals. It is also very import to increase the demand for high-quality and safe health care among patients,” said State Secretary Vít in his speech.
At the end of the meeting the chief medical officers discussed the proposal for a Council Recommendation on patient safety, including the prevention and control of healthcare associated infections, which the European Commission presented in December 2008. The main aim of the proposal is to find suitable measures to increase patient safety.
The Czech Presidency considers this document to be of key importance and will do its utmost to make sure that it is adopted at the EPSCO Council in June 2009.
Contact:
- Andrea Mimrová, Spokeswoman of the Ministry of Health
- Tel.: +420 224 972 424, GSM: +420 737 204 961, E-mail: andrea.mimrova@mzcr.cz
Last update: 16.8.2011 15:41
