Patient safety initiatives in Germany: The hospital perspective

Patient safety has become a major focus in German socio-political awareness over the past decade. Efforts to improve patient safety have been increased nationwide and involve all stakeholders in the German health care system. The government aims to improve the quality of health care services both in the hospital and in the ambulatory care sector with a quality campaign. On one hand it strengthens patients' power and participation in decision-making and on the other hand it stresses the need for health care providers themselves to enhance patient safety and to ensure the nationwide provision of excellent health care, whereby hospitals play a vital role in providing a comprehensive system of locally available clinical treatment. This article focuses particularly on the numerous mandatory and voluntary initiatives provided by hospitals with respect to quality of care and patient safety, however further information about the context can be found in the online version cited in the footnote below.