How We Can Mark This Year’s Canadian Patient Safety Week

Published by Beth Campbell Duke on

Canadian Patient Safety Week

What is Canadian Patient Safety Week?

Every year, Healthcare Excellence Canada promotes Canadian Patient Safety Week. ‘Press Play on Safety Conversations’ is the theme this year and safer care of older Canadians is the focus.

The goal is to help patients, families and healthcare professionals start having conversations about what safety means to all of the parties involved.

You can find more information about Healthcare Excellence Canada’s ‘Canadian Patient Safety Week’ on their website. If you’re on social media, look for the #CPSW2022 hashtag!

Why Does It Matter?

Having these conversations is important because what safety means can be different to patients, families and healthcare professionals. For example, healthcare professionals often focus on physical safety and the policies and procedures they use to ensure that errors are minimized. Patients and families may also include psychological safety issues when speaking about what is important to them.

Patient Safety is a topic that’s very important to my husband Tony and me because he has experienced not just intense life-extending medical intervention, but also life-altering medical harm. Our feelings of trust and safety when accessing healthcare have been affected by our intense healthcare experiences.

A harm event estimated to occur in one out of every 17 hospitalizations. This means that patients who have frequent contact with the healthcare system and hospitalizations are more likely to experience a patient safety incident.

It’s not something we generally talk about in Canada, and there are significant barriers to finding resolution. Our way through this is to do exactly what this year’s theme for Canadian Patient Safety Week advises us:

Press Play on Safety Conversations!


How We Can Mark This Year’s Canadian Patient Safety Week

I’ve been mulling over writing a book for quite a while and the topic of Patient Safety has landed for me. Canadian Patient Safety Week happens right before November, a month where some writers set aside time to get down to actually getting their books written.

So ready or not… I’m inviting anyone interested in the topic of Patient Safety in Canada to help me write this book!

I’m looking for:

  • Ideas on what you’d like to see covered. What questions do you have? Lived expertise?
  • People willing to read chapters as I write them and then provide feedback!

I am expecting to be able to write the first draft during November, if not by mid-December. After writing I will focus on getting the book edited and designed.

If you sign up for what I am calling the ‘Patient Safety Book Advisory Group’, you will:

  • Get access to a free membership section of the website to read and provide feedback on the book as it develops,
  • Receive emails only about this group, and
  • Receive a digital copy of the final product.

Beth Campbell Duke

Beth is a science educator and family caregiver for her husband, Tony, and her parents. She's busy developing programs and materials to help other patients and family caregivers navigate the healthcare system and tell their stories. Beth's biggest wish is to see the healthcare system incorporate 'trauma-informed care' into its workplaces to address the growing number of healthcare providers, patients and family caregivers experiencing primary and secondary trauma.