Filenews 17 September 2024
The Cyprus Federation of Patient Associations (OSAC) points out the need to improve the safety and quality of health services in Cyprus on the occasion of World Patient Safety Day, which has been celebrated every year since 2019 on September 17.
The aim of this international day is to raise awareness among health professionals about the importance of patient safety, to increase informed citizen participation in actions to enhance safety in healthcare and to promote actions to reduce the risks faced by patients in the context of health care.
At the same time, the aim is to promote, at a global level, actions to prevent and reduce harm to the patient in the provision of health care.
With this year's message, "Improve diagnosis for patient safety" and with the slogan, "Do it right, do it safely!", the World Health Organization (WHO) underlines the importance of correct and timely diagnosis to ensure patient safety.
The Federation stresses that one of the serious gaps in the health system in Cyprus is the absence of a modern legislative framework that guarantees the safety of all patients and notes that the necessary importance should be given to the diagnostic safety of patients and good clinical practice at all levels of healthcare.
Cooperation between policy makers, healthcare leaders, health workers, patient organisations and other stakeholders should also be promoted to promote correct, timely and safe diagnosis.
In Cyprus, unfortunately, there is a serious gap in issues related to the quality and safety of health services. The patient movement, prioritizing these issues very high, has for years been demanding the creation of independent organizations to supervise and implement policies that will control and evaluate the quality and safety of health services.
He also says that improving diagnosis works preventively, as it helps avoid complications and wrong treatments that may harm the patient.
