On 9 August 2022, WHO released a new publication entitled “Implications of the COVID-19 pandemic for patient safety: a rapid review”. This review explores impacts that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on patient safety in terms of risks and avoidable harm, specifically in terms of issues related to diagnostics, treatment and care management. It also highlights the main patterns of these impalications within the broader health system context. This is the first time WHO has looked at the implications of COVID-19 for patient safety, specifically. This will be important and useful for identifying future directions in patient safety within the broader context of pandemic preparedness, response and recovery, while addressing avoidable harm in health care. This publication was developed within the framework of cooperation between WHO headquarters and the Swiss Federal Office of Public Health. 

Quality of care and UHC - Message from WHO's Director-General about WHO Quality Toolkit 

In his opening remarks on the launch of the WHO Quality Toolkit, the WHO Director-General, Dr Tedros, emphasized the importance of quality of care in achieving universal health coverage. He reminded us that quality is not a given and that it takes collective effort to achieve. To support this collective effort, the goal of the new WHO Quality Toolkit is to be a key resource that provides trusted information and tools for improving the quality of care for the people we serve. To know more about the WHO Quality Toolkit, click here. 

WHO Global Quality Rounds - Driving quality of care at the facility level: learning with humility, acting with intensity (30 August)

The ultimate aim of quality improvement efforts is to deliver quality at the point of care. Therefore, actions taken at the health facility level are crucial for enhancing overall health care quality. And quality improvement interventions in primary, secondary or tertiary health facilities clearly play an important role in improving health outcomes.  

Watch the webinar recording of the WHO Global Quality Rounds, held on 30 August, to hear about interventions that have helped to improve quality of care at the facility level in India, Kenya and Scotland. Speakers from the three countries reflected on specific interventions, discussed lessons learnt and challenges encountered while implementing them, and suggested a pathway forward for health facilities interested or already involved in quality improvement.