TY - JOUR T1 - Patient safety: the need for an open and fair culture JF - Clinical Medicine JO - Clin Med SP - 128 LP - 131 DO - 10.7861/clinmedicine.4-2-128 VL - 4 IS - 2 AU - Rory Shaw Y1 - 2004/03/01 UR - http://www.rcpjournals.org/content/4/2/128.abstract N2 - Intermittent failures of healthcare delivery culminating in patient safety incidents are an international problem. Collecting information on incidents and where necessary analysing causes allows problems to be identified which, when resolved, can prevent future errors and incidents. To support incident reporting, it is vital to have an effective data collecting system and, in addition, an open and fair culture where those who report are supported and not punished. Where this has been introduced, large numbers of incidents are identified and solutions that improve patient safety can be implemented. ER -