Hyderabad, September 17: CARE Hospitals and Aster Hospitals marked World Patient Safety Day 2026 with a Patient Safety & Wellness Awareness Programme aimed at strengthening safer practices across the patient journey — from prevention and diagnosis to medication, treatment, discharge and follow-up.
Conducted from September 1 to 17 across hospitals in the India II Zone, the programme involved doctors, nurses, hospital teams, patients and caregivers, with a focus on reducing avoidable risks and encouraging greater participation of patients and families in safe healthcare.
Aligned with this year’s theme, “Safe care for noncommunicable diseases,” the programme centred around four areas — preventing NCDs, early detection, effective disease management and healthier living.
Hospitals organised patient awareness videos, live role plays, short expert podcasts, patient storytelling sessions, safety rallies, poster and slogan competitions, department-level safety activities and a Patient Safety Innovation Expo.
The activities highlighted everyday areas that can have a direct impact on patient safety, including correct use of medicines, infection prevention, timely diagnosis, communication between healthcare teams and patients, safe handovers and proper understanding of treatment and discharge instructions.
The Patient Safety Innovation Expo also gave hospital teams an opportunity to present ideas and process improvements designed to identify potential risks and make routine patient care safer.
Rajeev Chourey, Head – Quality & Patient Safety, Cluster II, Aster DM Quality Care Limited, said patient safety cannot be viewed as the responsibility of one department alone.
“Patient safety is a culture that has to be practised at every step, by everyone involved in a patient’s care. Many risks can be reduced when the right information reaches the right person at the right time,” he said.
Chourey also stressed the role of patients and families in improving safety. Sharing complete medical history, informing doctors about existing medicines and allergies, asking questions when instructions are unclear and understanding what needs to be done after discharge can all help reduce avoidable risks.
According to the World Health Organization, around one in 10 patients experiences harm in healthcare, while more than half of such harm is considered preventable.
Patient safety becomes particularly important in noncommunicable diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular diseases and cancer, where patients may require long-term medication, repeated investigations, multiple consultations and regular follow-ups.
Through the initiative, CARE Hospitals and Aster Hospitals sought to reinforce a broader message: patient safety does not begin only when treatment starts. It begins with prevention and early detection and continues through every interaction between the patient, family and healthcare team.