Improving public safety in primary care

Safety is a major concern in four main areas of primary care: diagnosis, prescribing, communication, and organisational change. Wilson and Sheikh (p 584) report that of all adverse incidents reported, 28% are related to problems with diagnosis. Up to 5% of all prescriptions might cause problems, and one third of these can be classified as serious. They believe that much can be done now and propose seven steps towards improving safety: understanding systems, leadership and culture, research, analysis, establishing best practice, improving techniques and technology, and monitoring safety.

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Relevant Article

Enhancing public safety in primary care

Tim Wilson and Aziz Sheikh
BMJ 2002 324: 584-587. [Full Text] [PDF]