European Parliament adopts resolution on patient safety

During the October plenary session, the Parliament adopted a Resolution addressing patient safety and healthcare-associated infections (HAI’s). This welcomes the efforts of the Commission and ECDC as well as the measures put in place by Member States with the principal aim of improving general patient safety and preventing the incidence of HAIs. However, it also underlines the need for better reporting system for patient safety as well as the collection of comparable indicators on patient safety. Furthermore, it calls on the EMA to draw up a list of off-label medicines which are used in spite of there being an approved alternative and urges the Member States to re-evaluate their adverse event reporting structures and to adopt measures which raise the quality of reporting on adverse events. It also calls for more visibility of initiatives in the area of patient safety, and to empower patients in this area. As far as antibiotics are concerned, the Parliament encourages Member States to develop their national practices on the appropriate use of antibiotics to ensure that antibiotic treatment remains effective; in relation to vaccination, Member States should provide the Commission with information on vaccination programmes for healthcare professionals, including the levels of coverage achieved within healthcare institutions. In relation to HAIs, the resolution recommends that Member States conduct specific awareness-raising and training measures concerning HAIs which are aimed not only at healthcare professionals but also formal and informal carers and hospital volunteer. It also recommends the creation of regional or local working parties to consider specific issues relating to patient safety, for example accident prevention among older people, or reducing the risk of medication-related errors. In conclusion, it calls on the Member States to share good practice benchmarks in the area of general patient safety. 

For the Resolution:

http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=-//EP//TEXT+TA+P7-TA-2013-0435+0+DOC+XML+V0//EN