New TK monitor reveals major gaps in patient safety expertise

14.09.2023 12:12

Three days before World Patient Safety Day on September 17, 2023, Techniker Krankenkasse today published the new TK monitor on the subject of patient safety. For the health goals.de cooperation network, this monitor is an important instrument of evaluation and analysis in order to regularly survey the status quo in the area of patient safety competence and the implementation of the health goal.

Monitoring results show a great need for action

The results of the monitoring show some worrying gaps in patient safety competence and underline the urgency of the need for action. For example, almost half of people in Germany feel that their complaints are not taken seriously (40 percent). Only 39 percent of patients think that they can easily get their concerns addressed in clinics and practices. For example, only 22 percent know of easily accessible online systems through which critical treatment events can be reported anonymously.

Healthtargets.de would like to further strengthen patient safety

There is still much to be done to truly make patient safety a priority in healthcare. The health goals.de cooperation network sees a great need for improvement in patient safety in Germany. This involves, for example, changing communication or strengthening a more open culture in the healthcare system - including patient feedback. The Health Goals Cooperation Association will now intensively evaluate the results of the monitoring and develop solution strategies in order to further strengthen patient safety competence in Germany. The cooperation network supports the Patient Safety Action Alliance (APS) in its concern to continuously and demonstrably promote patient safety.

About the cooperation network

National health goals have been developed and advanced in the gesundheitsziel.de cooperation network for over 20 years. The association is an association of over 140 organizations from politics, science and society. The association follows the “Health in All Policies” approach. With his work, he makes an important contribution to improving the health of the population in various areas. Since 2000, ten national health goals have been developed that identify various areas of action and priorities, such as diabetes, breast cancer, tobacco, alcohol, patient safety and health around childbirth.

Strengthening patient safety competence is one of the two central goals for improving patient safety in the National Health Goal of Patient Safety.

The TK Monitor presents the results of a representative survey that is intended to record the level of patient safety competence in the German population. The survey was created in cooperation with the experts from the patient safety group of the cooperation network, who contributed their expertise to the process in selecting and designing the questions.