European Union Network for Patient Safety and Quality of Care (PASQ). Development and preliminary results in Europe and in the Spanish National Health System

• Published in: Revista de calidad asistencial Vol. 30; no. 2; pp. 95 - 102
• Main Authors: Agra-Varela, Y, Fernández-Maíllo, M, Rivera-Ariza, S, Sáiz-Martínez-Acitorez, I, Casal-Gómez, J, Palanca-Sánchez, I, Bacou, J
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Spanish
• Published: Spain 01.03.2015
• Subjects: Benchmarking; Cooperative Behavior; Early Diagnosis; Europe; European Union; Forecasting; Hand Hygiene; Humans; Medication Reconciliation; National Health Programs - standards; Patient Safety - standards; Quality of Health Care; Spain; Surveys and Questionnaires; Patient safety; Seguridad del paciente; Calidad asistencial; Cooperative behaviour; Acción cooperativa; Quality of health care
• ISSN: 1887-1364
• DOI: 10.1016/j.cali.2015.01.010

The joint action, European Union Network for Patient Safety and Quality of Care: PaSQ, aims to promote patient safety (PS) in the European Union (EU) and to facilitate the exchange of experiences among Member States (MS) and stakeholders on issues related to quality of care, PS, and patient involvement. The development and preliminary results are presented here, especially as regards the Spanish National Health System (SNHS). PaSQ is developed through 7 work packages, primarily aimed at sharing good practices (GP), which were identified using specific questionnaires and selected by means of explicit criteria, as well as to implement safe clinical practices (SCP) of proven effectiveness and agreed among MS. A total of 482 GP (39% provided by Spanish professionals) were identified. The 34 events organised in the EU, 11 including Spanish participation, facilitate sharing these practices. A total of 194 Health Care centres (49% in Spain) are implementing SCP (hand hygiene, safe surgery, medication reconciliation, and paediatric early warning scores) ACHIEVEMENTS AND FUTURE PERSPECTIVES: PaSQ is making it possible to strengthen collaboration between organizations and professionals at EU and SNHS level regarding PS and quality of care.