ECRI to Host Patient Safety Conference in United Kingdom

Plymouth Meeting, PA—ECRI (www.ecri.org) will host a patient safety conference in the United Kingdom on October 10, 2001, at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre, London. "Introducing the National Patient Safety Agency: Learning from adverse events and near misses in the NHS" is a one-day conference that will officially introduce the new National Patient Safety Agency (NPSA) and its functions. Participants will learn about international initiatives and gain understanding about how the patient safety program will affect the National Health Service (NHS) within the acute and community settings.

The NPSA will run the new national system for reporting and learning from adverse events and near misses. The pilot system will use standard definitions of adverse events and near misses, reporting forms, and methods to determine the causes of adverse events and near misses. The conference will address the problems of adverse events in NHS trusts. According to the NHS, an estimated 10% of hospital admissions lead to patient harm—850,000 adverse events annually—and cost £2 billion ($3 billion) in extra hospital stays.

The conference program will feature speakers from the United Kingdom, Australia, and the United States. Joel Nobel, M.D., president of ECRI, USA, will present "Medical Device Safety Reporting Systems—30 Years of Experience." He will consider whether things are better, worse, or just more complicated with adverse-event reporting. In addition, Dr. Nobel will compare voluntary versus mandatory reporting and will suggest alternatives to reporting systems. Other U.S. speakers include Dr. Paul Barach, co-director, Center for Patient Safety, the University of Chicago, and Dr. James Bagian, director, Veterans Health Administration, National Center for Patient Safety.

ECRI has been providing information and technical assistance to the healthcare community to support safe and cost-effective patient care for more than 30 years. Known throughout the industry for its unparalleled information services, level of expertise, and integrity, ECRI is a nonprofit international health services research agency and Collaborating Center of the World Health Organization. ECRI is designated as an Evidence-based Practice Center by the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) and is the contractor to AHRQ to produce the National Guideline Clearinghouse™ database and Web site. The results of ECRI's research and experience are available through its publications, information systems, technical assistance, laboratory services, professional seminars, and fellowships.

ECRI, 5200 Butler Pike, Plymouth Meeting, PA 19462-1298. Tel: 610-825-6000; Fax: 610-834-1275.