Introduction :
This project is meant to gather international and national experts to reflect on the legal and ethical issues that are associated to the reporting of patient safety incidents and provide suggestions for global action. Safety has emerged as an issue of prime consideration in modern healthcare systems. Evidence shows that at least 1 in 10 patients are harmed during their journey through healthcare, with lethal consequences in a non- negligible number of cases. In many countries, including Switzerland, specific initiatives have led to foster safety and quality of health care. As part of these initiatives, patient safety incident reporting systems are considered key instruments for learning and preventing unsafe care from happening again. The act and conditions of reporting, as well as the management and uses of the data raise a number of legal and ethical issues that need to be considered and reflected upon. Issues related with liability, shared responsibilities and accountability, privacy and confidentiality, the right to know and the right of disclosure, for example, are some of the issues that need to be considered. Some countries have been able to identify solutions for them, but in general, the complexities associated to the legal frameworks and ethical concerns have proven difficult to solve. In Switzerland there is presently a strong trend in promoting quality of healthcare and patient safety. A number of initiatives have been launched either from private institutions (hospitals, professional organizations) or from the State (Swiss Foundation for Patient Safety, cantons) and debates have taken place in the political arena. It seems it is the right time to make a global assessment of the situation from an international perspective and to identify which directions should be considered for Switzerland and globally, with the purpose of identifying the best legal, ethical and medical framework for the reporting of patient safety incidents to contribute to the global learning in safety and quality of healthcare. Even the best intentions remain ineffective if the conditions for a proper implementation are lacking and if there is reluctance for changing. This workshop will act as an international and interdisciplinary forum for gathering experiences and ideas in order to determine how best to create a solid framework to enable reporting of patient safety incidents.