XI Spanish conference on patient safety in primary care: Equity, Public Health and Patient Safety

On June 22th 2018, we celebrated 11th Conference on Patient Safety in Primary Care. For the eleventh consecutive year, primary care professionals met in the teaching lecture room of the Hospital Clínico San Carlos in Madrid to analyse, discuss and produce proposals for improvement regarding equity and sustainability of the health system as a first step to guarantee safer health care.

The objective was to set up a specific discussion forum and address experiences related to patient safety in primary care. As in previous editions, the conference was organised jointly by the Spanish Society of Quality Care (SECA), the Spanish Society of Family and Community Medicine (semFYC), the Federation of Associations of Community Nursing and Primary Care (FAECAP) and the Spanish Society of Pharmacists of Primary Care (SEFAP) and the Ministry of Health, Social Services and Equality (MSSSI), and the Madrid associations of the organising societies: the Madrid Association for the Quality of Care (AMCA), the Madrid Society of Family and Community Medicine (SOMAMFYC) and the Society of Castilla-La Mancha Family and Community Nursing (ACAME).

The first Patient Safety-Primary Care was in San Sebastian in 2008 and every year it provides us with a new opportunity to see each other again and learn by sharing experiences.

The topic chosen for this year was Equity, Public Health and Patient Safety, with the aim of reflecting on this issue and producing proposals that help reduce unnecessary risks for the patient linked to problems of inequity and accessibility.

The conference resentations provided different perspectives, reflections and initiatives for improving the equity of the health system as a basic element to provide safe healthcare for all citizens. The president of the scientific committee, Mrs. G Olivera, chaired the table and the subsequent debate. We highlight some of the most interesting reflections:

  • Mr. S Esnaola reflected on patient safety from the perspective of public health considering aspects of social inequality and equity in Spain.
  • Mr. T Castillo spoke about the commitment of patient organisations with regards to the equity and accessibility of the Spanish health system and its benefits, and a patients’ wish to participate in the improvement of patient safety in the health system.
  • Mr. L Gimeno analysed the impact on the health of populations excluded from health coverage with RD 162/2012, the commitment of health professionals and scientific societies, particularly SEMFYC in the fight for the restitution of universal coverage in Spain. It was concluded with the hopeful perception of upcoming legislative changes aimed at reversing this situation.
  • Mrs. Kattyana Aparicio Reyes reflected on the importance of equity and quality in the World Health Organization (WHO) campaign for Universal Health Coverage as a basic level of patient safety in the world.

Finally, we had a tangible experience of improving equity in primary care presented by Mr Antoni Dedeu and Mrs. Cristina Coll on financing basic health areas considering the social deprivation index of each area. He reflected on positive aspects of the index and on proposals for improvement in measurement since rural areas and younger and poorer population are not adequately reflected.

The presentations were recorded and are available here.

After the panel discussion, we had the opportunity to share the experiences that, in the form of oral papers, were presented during the day. A total of 75 communications had been received, of which 25 research studies, 27 improvement experiences and 19 teaching cases have been submitted.

The morning ended with a closing conference given by Mr. A Pardo who presented us with the path of culture and patient safety strategies in our health system. And later, the Fernando Palacio awards were delivered to projects, which improve patient safety in primary care.

In the afternoon, four workshops sponsored by the four organising companies of the day were run, which allowed us to improve our training in safety skills.

The Spanish Conference on Patient Safety in Primary Care has been established as a must-attend event for every Primary Care Spanish speaking health worker interested in patient safety.

Author

Maria Pilar Astier Peña
semFYC delegate for WONCA EUROPE WORKING PARTY ON QUALITY AND SAFETY (EQUIP), Chair WONCA WORLD WORKING PARTY ON QUALITY AND PATIENT SAFETY (WWPQS)
E mail: mpastier@gmail.com

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