[Dutch national safety programme will not lead to a fifty per cent reduction in avoidable mortality in hospitals]

Progress in improving patient safety in hospitals has been frustratingly slow, for several reasons. There are, for example, few proven effective improvement interventions available. Evaluation of the effectiveness of safety interventions is complicated by the complexity and variability of these interventions due to local differences and preferences of care providers. In addition, a reduction in avoidable harm is difficult to measure due to the requirement for a large number of patients and lack of reliable instruments for measuring effectiveness. Also, problems experienced by care providers when implementing safety interventions are not being systematically addressed. For these reasons, the aim of the Dutch national safety programme in hospitals - to reduce the incidence of avoidable harm by 50% in 5 years - will not be feasible or measurable. It is necessary to identify effective safety interventions and to exchange experiences in successful implementation of these in order to support care providers in improving patient safety.