ABSTRACT

This conclusion presents some closing thoughts on the concepts covered in the preceding chapters of this book. The book is global in nature, but it unashamedly never tried to escape the local. The two perspectives are inextricably bound: the local becomes global and the global becomes local. Small, localised errors can beget, nurture and nourish systemic errors, with bigger consequences. The chapters in this book have highlighted a number of ways in which different countries have produced and developed patient safety systems and measures, to greater and lesser success. The patient safety framework in that country is characterised by collaborative efforts to develop practices and policies which can be meaningfully adopted in healthcare institutions. The development of patient safety over time, its current role and the future of it played a key role in much of the book's discussions. Global trends exist in the context of patient safety, and these trends are quite positive.