This year’s theme for World Patient Safety Day is focused on improving diagnosis for patient safety, underlining the importance of health professionals and patients all playing their part to help achieve the best possible outcome.
And to help residents across Hertfordshire and west Essex ensure they receive an accurate and timely diagnosis, the local NHS is recommending people follow these three steps:
- get your blood pressure checked – around one in four adults in the UK have high blood pressure, but only half of those are aware of it – ‘taking a sec to check’ could prevent serious illness developing.
- attend cancer screenings when invited to do so – finding cancer early can save your life, with screening the best way of detecting the disease when it is most treatable.
- visit a local pharmacy where certain conditions can be addressed and treated – patients can now be seen by their local pharmacist for minor illnesses and conditions as part of Pharmacy First, offering more choice and freeing up GP appointments.
World Patient Safety Day, which takes place on 17 September, is an annual global campaign run by the World Health Organisation (WHO).