The Patients for Patient Safety (PFPS) network was established by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2004.  PFPS was organized and is led by patients who have experienced avoidable harm themselves or close family members who are their advocates.  Membership in PFPS is open to any person who:

1. Agrees to supports WHO patient safety goals, which are focused on achieving the goal of maximum reduction in avoidable harm due to healthcare.
2. Agrees to support the PFPS London Declaration, developed in 2005 as the PFPS pledge of partnership.
3. Completes an orientation (Provided by PFPS US) to WHO patient safety objectives and programs and PFPS’s role in advancing them.
4. Agrees to abide by WHO rules of engagement.

People who meet these criteria are designated PFPS “Champions” and added to an international roster of members maintained by WHO. PFPS Champions are volunteers. We receive no compensation from WHO, are not agents of WHO, and cannot present ourselves as representatives of WHO.

The London Declaration

We, Patients for Patient Safety, envision a different world in which healthcare errors are not harming people. We are partners in the effort to prevent all avoidable harm in healthcare. Risk and uncertainty are constant companions. So we come together in dialogue, participating in care with providers. We unite our strength as advocates for care without harm in the developing as well as the developed world.

We are committed to spread the word from person to person, town to town, country to country. There is a right to safe healthcare and we will not let the current culture of error and denial continue. We call for honesty, openness and transparency. We will make the reduction of healthcare errors a basic human right that preserves life around the world.

We, Patients for Patient Safety, will be the voice for all people, but especially those who are now unheard. Together as partners, we will collaborate in:

• Devising and promoting programs for patient safety and patient empowerment.
• Developing and driving a constructive dialogue with all partners concerned with patient safety.
• Establishing systems for reporting and dealing with healthcare harm on a worldwide basis.
• Defining best practices in dealing with healthcare harm of all kinds and promoting those practices throughout the world.

In honor of those who have died, those left disabled, our loved ones today and the world’s children yet to be born, we will strive for excellence, so that all involved in healthcare are as safe as possible as soon as possible. This is our pledge of partnership.

If you are interested in joining the PFPS network and becoming a PFPS Champion, click the button below to register for Orientation.

Strategic Partnership

PFPS US is a branch of the PFPS international network, established in 2021 by patient safety advocates with the mission of advancing the Global Patient Safety Action Plan 2021-2030 (GPSAP) in the United States.

In addition to individual PFPS Champions, the PFPS US network includes Strategic Partners, which are organizations interested in working with patients and their advocates to achieve one or more of the WHO GPSAP strategic objectives, in whole or in part. Organizational partners include government entities, educational institutions, nonprofit organizations, and for-profit organizations who are stakeholders in improving patient safety.  These organizations have expressed a willingness to cooperate with PFPS Champions to improve patient safety.

The GPSAP sets forth seven Strategic Objectives:. 

• Strategic objective 1. Policies to eliminate avoidable harm in health care
• Strategic objective 2. High-reliability systems
• Strategic objective 3. Safety of clinical processes
• Strategic objective 4. Patient and family engagement
• Strategic objective 5. Health worker education, skills and safety
• Strategic objective 6. Information, research and risk management
• Strategic objective 7. Synergy, partnership and solidarity

PFPS Strategic Partners are asked to actively support implementation of at least one of these Strategic Objectives, in whole or in part.

By joining PFPS US as a Strategic Partner, an organization is not required to support every strategy set forth in the GPSAP.  Strategic Partners will be consulted in the development of specific implementation positions, proposals or actions taken by PFPS US, but not required to support or endorse any specific position, proposal or action pursued by PFPS US.

If your organization is interested in joining PFPS US as a Strategic Partner, click the button below to express interest.  A PFPS US Founding Member will then follow up with you.