Baker, R.G. (2012). The Challenges of Making Care Safer: Leadership and System Transformation. Healthcare Quarterly, 15. Retrieved from www.longwoods.com/content/22848.

“Ten years ago, in September 2002, the National Steering Committee on Patient Safety delivered its report urging the development of the Canadian Patient Safety Institute and enhanced efforts to identify and reduce the risk of patient harm across the healthcare system. Two years later, the Canadian Adverse Events Study (Baker et al. 2004) provided data on patient safety in acute care – data that reported levels of harm far greater than most suspected. Today, virtually all Canadian healthcare organizations have goals around improving the safety and quality of care, and many have implemented reporting systems that identify patient safety incidents and track the implementation of recommendations to reduce hazards. In only a decade, patient safety has been transformed from the esoteric interest of a small number of champions to an essential component of healthcare performance across Canada. Today, patient safety is a fundamental prerequisite for the healthcare system: quality is impossible unless patients are protected from unintended harm.”