Every year on the 17th of September, World Patient Safety Day is marked to address the important need to make sure every patient feels safe when receiving health care. It was established by World Health Organisation (WHO) in 2019 to increase awareness of patient safety and reduce avoidable harm in healthcare.
The theme for 2026 is “Safe care for life!” which encompasses this year’s focus on ensuring safe care for people with chronic or non-communicable diseases.
Chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, chronic respiratory conditions and mental health conditions affect billions of people globally and account for 74 per cent of deaths. They can affect people of any age and patients may require ongoing care throughout their life.
Around the world, one in 10 patients experience harm while receiving health care, and approximately half of these incidents are preventable. Patients living with chronic disease require long-term management with frequent contact with the healthcare system often making them more susceptible to preventable harm. Barriers to accessing healthcare due to social determinants, diagnostic delays, medication errors, the use of unsafe medical devices, and fragmented or poorly coordinated care are all risks that can result in harm.
To ensure health care for patients living with chronic diseases is safe, the WHO is encouraging health professionals to prioritise meaningful engagement with patients, promote prevention and reduce harm by understanding the risks.
At Northern Health, we strive to make health care safe and accessible for everyone and are committed to strengthening systems, improving communication, and involving patients in decisions surrounding their care. This includes understanding that safe care isn’t a single event, it is a continuous process across the patient journey and everyone has a role to play from people living with chronic disease, our communities, healthcare clinicians, healthcare leaders, and policy makers.
This World Patient Safety Day, the Quality and Safety Department encourage you to wear a splash of orange to show your support, engage with patients and ask, ‘What does safe, supportive care look like to you when you are living with a chronic condition?’, and join us in the Northern Hospital, Epping main foyer on Thursday, 17 September to share the responses.
Here is what World Patient Safety Day means to our wonderful staff and consumers:
