Via practica 1/2012

Patient safety in primary care in Slovakia

Patient safety is the prevention of adverse events during health care provision in order to minimize harm to the patient. Patient safety in primary care in Slovakia is given little attention. However, the potential for adverse events is high. It is assumed that in Slovakia there are 5 – 80 safety incidents in primary care each day. Up to 50% of these incidents could be avoided learning from previous cases. Anonymous electronic reporting systems have proven to be effective in the world. The role of it is not to criticize, blame, or punish, but to learn from these mistakes. "To err is human, to cover up is unforgivable, to fail to learn is inexcusable."

Keywords: patient safety, primary care, medical error, safety incident.