March 2004
Lancet
Introducing the patient safety seriesNB. Please note that if you are outside North America, the embargo for LANCET press material is 0001 hours UK Time 19 March 2004.Health care providers, hospital administrators, and politicians face competing challenges to reduce clinical errors, control expenditure, increase access and throughput, and improve quality of care. The safe management of the acutely ill inpatient presents particular difficulties. In the first of five Lancet articles on this topic, Julian Bion and J Heffner from the University of Birmingham, UK, and colleagues discuss patients' safety in the acute-care setting.
The authors of the first article also present a framework in which responsibility for improvement and better integration of care can be considered at the level of patient, local environment, hospital, and health-care system. The subsequent four papers in the series will examine in greater detail methods for measuring, monitoring, and improving inpatient safety. See also Commentary (p 913)
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