“Safe diagnosis” was the theme chosen by the World Health Organisation for World Patient Safety Day 2024. The NOVA National School of Public Health (NOVA NSPH) is joining the celebrations on 17 September by sharing a set of information in Portuguese on the importance of correct diagnosis for health outcomes.
Symbolically, and with the aim of making the whole community aware of the importance of safe diagnosis, NOVA NSPH will be light up some areas at the school entrance in orange and adapting the same colour on its website, in response to the challenge launched by the WHO.
With the various initiatives and work in which it is involved, NOVA NSPH, which has been a WHO Collaborating Centre for Education, Research and Evaluation of Safety and Quality in Health Care, designated by the WHO since June 2020, intends to give more visibility to this campaign and provide the Portuguese-speaking community with awareness-raising materials in Portuguese, which will enable it to achieve the results needed to increase the culture of safety in institutions more quickly. This is, in fact, one of the school’s areas of differentiation, present in its training offer and in which several generations of health professionals and leaders have been trained.
It is estimated that the magnitude of diagnostic errors is responsible for around 16 per cent of avoidable damage to health systems. The World Health Organisation (WHO) is therefore calling for concerted efforts to significantly reduce diagnostic errors through multifaceted interventions based on systemic thinking and the active involvement of patients, their families, healthcare professionals and those responsible for healthcare.
NOVA NSPH’s work in the area of Patient Safety
Patient safety is an area to which NOVA NSPH has devoted particular attention in recent years. In 2024, the WHO Collaborating Centre for Education, Research and Evaluation on Safety and Quality in Health Care was reappointed for a further four years, for the period 2024-2028, by the WHO.
In recent years, the NOVA NSPH team has developed various activities in partnership with the WHO and leading institutions, including collaboration in the revision of the WHO Patient Safety Curriculum Guide, support in strengthening and disseminating the Framework on Patient Safety and Family Engagement, the preparation and revision of various WHO documents, namely the WHO Global Patient Safety Report 2024, participation in national and international activities aligned with the implementation of the Global Patient Safety Action Plan 2021-2030, the organisation of the 1st WHO Autunm School on Quality and Patient Safety in partnership with the WHO European Centre of Excellence for Quality in Care and Patient Safety, and the organisation of the 2nd WHO Autunm School on Quality and Patient Safety in partnership with the WHO European Centre of Excellence for Quality in Care and Patient Safety. WHO Autunm School on Quality and Patient Safety in partnership with the WHO European Centre of Excellence for Quality in Care and Patient Safety and the organisation of the 2nd WHO Autunm School on Quality and Patient Safety.
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In the field of research, NOVA NSPH has also been involved in projects dedicated to patient safety in its various aspects.
Currently, NOVA NSPH is the national partner of the SAFEST project (Improving quality and patient SAFEty in surgical care through STandardisation and harmonisation of perioperative care in Europe), a project funded by the European Commission under the Horizon Europe programme that aims to play a decisive role in improving the safety of perioperative care through the development of SAFEST standardised practices and their implementation in 10 hospitals in five European Union countries. The consortium includes 10 partners from seven European countries, responsible for nine work packages, where NOVA NSPH is responsible for monitoring and evaluating the intervention, as well as coordinating the work at national level.
NOVA NSPH is also participating in ERNST (COST Action 19113), a 4-year project that promotes the discussion and sharing of scientific knowledge, contributing to an open dialogue between the various partners about the consequences associated with the phenomenon of second victimisation. It includes partners from more than 37 countries with different disciplines and approaches, and has 4 work packages. NOVA NSPH coordinates Working Group 3 of Cost Action, entitled ‘Making it Happen – Make feasible interventions, train professionals, and implement cultural, legal or educational changes.’
NOVA NSPH is also taking part in Better Care – Supporting Emerging Care Economy, Empowering Caregivers to Provide Safe Care at Home, a European project – a COST initiative – which aims to implement strategies to improve safety in home care, with a particular focus on characterising and preventing errors related to informal caregivers. The project, which began in 2023 and will continue until 2027, will be developed through the creation, discussion and sharing of knowledge in different areas. NOVA NSPH is coordinating Work Group 2, entitled ‘Review and Description of the State-Of-The-Art of Safe Care at Home – Conceptualisation, map interventions and training programmes, metrics’.
