Eighth Futures Forum on Governance of Patient Safety : Erpendorf, Austria, 28-29 April 2005

Despite substantial improvements, European countries still have a large incidence of adverse effects from health interventions and powerful evidence of harm to patients. The Eighth Futures Forum on governance of patient safety focused on experience and open questions related to the governance of patient safety in participating European countries. The aim was to exchange and learn from experience on governing patient safety, to identify the knowledge gaps on how to improve the governance of patient safety and to support the international drive towards increasing patient safety in the WHO European Region. [Ed.] 1. Why a WHO forum on governance of patient safety? 2. The problem of patient safety 3. What causes adverse events and errors in health care? 4. What to do when an adverse event or error occurs? 5. Pros and cons in governing patient safety 6. Experience in governing patient safety in countries 7. Some solutions in governing patient safety.