A Global Movement Combined with Individual Passion

In 2005, the World Health Organization (WHO) made patient engagement a priority by creating the Patients for Patient Safety Programme (PFPS). The first PFPS workshop held that year in London laid the foundation for a global movement promoting active patient engagement to address the catastrophic problems around patient safety. Canadian patients and families provided a leading voice in this movement, along with 21 PFPS champions from 19 countries. The Canadian Patient Safety Institute (now Healthcare Excellence Canada) recognized the need for a collective patient voice to raise awareness of preventable harm and making care safer. They supported our members since 2005.

Today,19 years later, as we celebrate being an independent incorporated organization, the celebration is tinged with the sad reality that patient safety incidents and related mortalities have escalated and the struggle to address this continues. If we do not take more aggressive and effective action now in Canada, it is forecasted that over the next 30 years, within acute and homecare settings, there could be roughly 400,000 preventable patient safety incidents every year. The financial burden of preventable harm on patients and families is devastating.

We have the collective will and motivation to change the course of patient safety in Canada. The voices of patients and their families must be heard. Working in partnership we commit to make care as safe as possible, as soon as possible.