> Patient Safety > Helsinki Declaration on Patient Safety in Anaesthesiology > EJA article: 10 Years of the Helsinki Declaration > Foreword

Ten years of the Helsinki Declaration on patient safety in anaesthesiology

An expert opinion on peri-operative safety aspects

Benedikt Preckel, Sven Staender, Daniel Arnal, Guttorm Brattebø, Jeffrey M. Feldman, Robert Ffrench-O’Carroll, Thomas Fuchs-Buder, Sara N. Goldhaber-Fiebert, Guy Haller, Arvid S. Haugen, Jan F.A. Hendrickx, Cor J. Kalkman, Patrick Meybohm, Christopher Neuhaus, Doris Østergaard, Adrian Plunkett, Hans U. Schu¨ ler, Andrew F. Smith, Michel M.R.F. Struys, Christian P. Subbe, Johannes Wacker, John Welch, David K. Whitaker, Kai Zacharowski and Jannicke Mellin-Olsen

 

Foreword 

Patient Safety is an activity to mitigate preventable patient harm that may occur during the delivery of medical care. The European Board of Anaesthesiology (EBA)/European Union of Medical Specialists had previously published safety recommendations on minimal monitoring and postanaesthesia care, but with the growing public and professional interest it was decided to produce a much more encompassing document.  

The EBA and the European Society of Anaesthesiology (now ESAIC) published a consensus on what needs to be done/achieved for the improvement of peri-operative patient safety. During the Euroanaesthesia meeting in Helsinki/Finland in 2010, this vision was presented to anaesthesiologists, patients, industry and others involved in healthcare as the ‘Helsinki Declaration on Patient Safety in Anaesthesiology’.  

In May/June 2020, the ESAIC and EBA celebrated the 10th anniversary of the Helsinki Declaration on Patient Safety in Anaesthesiology. This was a good opportunity to look back evaluating what was achieved in the recent 10 years and look forwards to what needs to be done in the upcoming years.  

The Patient Safety and Quality Committee (PSQC) of the ESAIC invited experts to contribute. These experts addressed their topics in different ways; there are classical, narrative reviews, more systematic reviews, political statements, personal opinions and also original data presentation. With this publication we hope to further stimulate implementation of the Helsinki Declaration on Patient Safety in Anaesthesiology, as well as initiating relevant research in the future.