World Patient Safety Day is an annual event, taking place every year on September 17. The event is intended to promote patient safety by raising public awareness and fostering collaboration between patients, families, communities and healthcare workers, leaders, and policy makers.

This year the theme selected by the World Health Organization (WHO) is “Improving diagnosis for patient safety” and the slogan “Get it right, make it safe!”. It supports the WHO patient safety rights charter and advances the global patient safety action plan.

Patients for Patient Safety Canada (PFPSC) is concerned by the reports from WHO and United States that indicate that most of us will suffer a diagnosis error in our lifetime and that the burden of harm is profound.

Canada does not have the data to accurately define and determine the scope of the problem. That’s a gap that needs to be addressed so we know how big the problem is, who is most impacted and if diagnosis harm is decreasing.

We can make a difference now, while we wait for the reporting systems and the other evidence to show the impact of diagnosis harm.

Please use #WPSD2024 and #patients4safety to promote our united voices. Contact hello@patients4safety.ca if you have ideas, questions, or feedback.