About Us - Patients for Patient Safety

Our objective is to encourage Health Care Providers to acknowledge patients and their families as an untapped resource for information and recognise the patient experience as a learning tool.

Patients for Patient Safety (PFPS) is a World Health Organisation (WHO) initiative aimed at improving patient safety. Networks of PFPS exist in many countries. By bringing PFPS to Ireland, we hope to use this proven model to work together, aiming to improve safety through advocacy, collaboration and partnership.

PFPSI is a group of committed individuals representing, patients, their families, service users, healthcare providers, and health services executives. Some members have experienced harm to themselves or their loved ones. All are dedicated to using these unique experiences to bring about improvements in the healthcare system.

We advocate for person centred care through collaboration with all stake holders, including the patient, across all levels of policy development, implementation, evaluation, design and delivery of services. For this to be successful it is essential that engagement with patients takes place in the initial stages of planning and development of services.

We work closely with Irish Health Care Providers. Our members are involved in education, research, regulation and policy making. Working as voluntary representatives on various National forums, we strive to drive healthcare change. Through involvement with the management team of the National Quality Improvement Division our experience is valued at the highest level of the Irish Health Services Executive. This has been a positive way of bringing the patient’s voice to the decision maker’s platform.

Members who have experience of harmful outcomes share their experiences through “The Patient Story” at conferences, seminars, and workshops. Their accounts of harmful outcomes and deaths focus us all to work together to do better.

Research has proven that patient involvement works and the feedback from the healthcare profession has been positive.

Health Policy Briefs February 2013 states “A growing body of evidence demonstrates that patients who are more actively involved in their health care, experience better health outcomes”.

Research conducted at the University of British Columbia highlights that “Students remember what they learn from patients.”

Good communication is at the heart of all good services and one of the key priorities is to involve patients. International research has found that the quality and safety of healthcare can be improved by working in partnership with patients. This means listening to patients’ perspectives on how our health services work, or don’t work, for them. Through PFPSI we have seen the demand for “The Patient Voice” increase.