The Inter-regional consultation on patient safety incident reporting and learning systems in Africa and Asia Pacific regions, held 22-24 March 2016 in Colombo, was jointly organized by WHO headquarters and WHO South East Asia Regional Office (SEARO), in collaboration and with the support from the Governments of Japan and Sri Lanka.
The event was attended by representatives from 18 countries, and was organized as an international platform for presenting and discussing experience and role of reporting and learning systems that are essential for improving the safety of patients and the quality of health care. Particular importance was given to resource limited settings and how such systems could become operational, for improved patient outcome and economies of scale.
Structured in four parts, the consultation:
- reviewed patient safety success stories at global, regional and national level
- provided input for the WHO Implementation Guidelines on Patient Safety Incident Reporting and Learning Systems
- reviewed the results of the MIM PS regional pilot exercise
- shared best practices to analyze collected data and enhance useful learning from patient safety reporting systems
The lessons derived from this exercise were formulated into strategic recommendations for forward directions to develop, implement, support and strengthen patient safety reporting and learning systems, as a source of shared knowledge for better care: the corner stone of all patient safety strategies.