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The Center for Patient Protection | PatientProtection.Healthcare

The beginning of a better, safer, more compassionate healthcare experience.

The Center for Patient Protection, now a part of PatientProtection.Healthcare, is one of the world’s foremost patient and family experience driven voices for improved healthcare outcomes. Created initially to address the epidemic of avoidable medical errors and patient safety breakdowns that claim tens of thousands of lives and adds billions to the costs of healthcare every year, Patient Protection.Healthcare now provides informed and passionate advocacy for improved mental health services, better suicide prevention practices and the elimination of gender-related barriers to safe healthcare for women.

Read more about us.

“It is not acceptable for patients to be harmed by the health care system that is supposed to offer healing and comfort.”

from To Err is Human, an investigation by the Institute of Medicine into patient safety and medical errors,
November 1999

Looking for Hospital Harm by the Numbers?  It’s here.

Did you know?

Medical errors are the third leading cause of death in Canada and the United States.

30,000 hospitalized patients lose their lives to medical errors in Canada every year. That’s the equivalent of a fully loaded jumbo jet crashing and killing everyone on board each week. 

The risk of avoidable death in a U.S. hospital with a D or F patient safety grade is 92 percent higher than it is in hospitals with than an A grade.

Canada has no similar hospital rating tool to allow patients and families to make informed decisions about the safety of their healthcare provider. 

Canada does, however, have a system where taxpayer dollars are used to fund a legal defense scheme for doctors who harm patients. The U.S. has no such system and, unlike hospital safety scores for Canada, there is no demand that such a scheme be created in the U.S.

It is predicted that 12 million Canadians in hospital and home-care settings will be harmed by the healthcare system over the next 30 years, costing the health-care system an additional $2.75 billion per year. Another 1.2 million people will lose their lives. 

3Rs For Safer Care

Snapshots of Harm

What do patients & families want?

Healing Virtues

Our Flagship Campaign

Outreach Clinic

Since 2018, PatientProtection.Healthcare and the ZeroNow Campaign have called for federal action to address gender-based gaps in healthcare and in the well-being of victims of sexual violence. In Prime Minister Trudeau’s mandate letter of December 2019 to the Minister of Health, the federal government committed to developing an action plan to reduce gender-related health gaps. Kathleen Finlay’s Hill Times op-ed is part of a series of articles and commentaries that provide insight into a way forward that can produce genuine game-changing outcomes.

 

Kathleen Finlay’s op-ed in The Hill Times, calling for appointment of a
federal gender-based anti-violence Commissioner.

Suicide is becoming an epidemic among certain population groups in Canada. Every year, at least 100,000 attempt to end their lives. Among Canadian youth, suicide is the second leading cause of death. Victims of gender-based violence and bullying are especially at risk, as are members of our indigenous communities. We call for a new approach and fresh thinking to address this public health crisis, including the creation of a national three-digit 988 suicide prevention hotline network. 

Too often when seeking healing in the healthcare setting, patients and families encounter harm instead. Frequently it is disabling. Often it is life ending.
—Kathleen Finlay, founder, The Center for PatientProtection | PatientProtection.Healthcare.

Every day, patients, families, healthcare providers and the media from around the world turn to Patient Protection.Healthcare and The Center for PatientProtection for insight and information on how to create a safer, more transparent and compassionate healthcare experience. 

To err is human, to cover up is unforgivable, and to fail to learn is inexcusable.
—Sir Liam Donaldson, MD

Whether we’re advocating before Parliament, intervening with a healthcare body, bringing new reforms to the policy table or being interviewed by the national news, patients and families know they have no more committed voice or stronger champion.  

An important social movement seemed to emerge in the wake of “To Err Is Human,” but it has lost its way.
—Kathleen Sutcliffe, PhD 

Medical errors are the third leading cause of death in Canada and the United States. They injure millions every year and add billions to the cost of our healthcare systems. Some trends, like leaving objects in patients after surgery, are getting worse. That’s why we think our healthcare systems need a second opinion when it comes to the well-being of patients and families.

A21st century approach to healthcare challenges. 

From improving DNR practices to creating safer bedside care, our Patient and Family Engagement Lab builds on our extensive knowledge base of patient and family experiences. We’ve proposed the creation of the healthcare equivalent of an TSB (Canadian Transportation Safety Board) to combat medical errors and systemic infections, called for mandatory hospital reporting of medical errors and free access to patient medical records, and created a suite of powerful engagement devices like our HealthyListening Tool to improve provider communication with patients and families. 

Change where it counts. 

We’ve pushed for mandatory hospital disclosure of medical errors, creation of a hospital rating system (we like the Leapfrog model), an end to the typical deny and defend response when patients seek explanations for medical harm, and termination of public funding of the Canadian Medical Protective Association, which is a taxpayer-subsidized legal aid system for doctors.

Re-imagining our approach to suicide prevention.

Suicide is becoming an epidemic in some parts of our population. Among males between the ages of 14 and 24, it is the second leading cause of death. We’ve proposed the creation of a national strategy to unleash innovative solutions to combat this growing public health crisis, including adoption of a 988 national suicide prevention lifeline.

Too often, the greatest health risk to women is— being a woman. 

Women still face healthcare gaps and delays in diagnosis and treatment solely based on gender. These can be life-threatening. They need to be closed and ended. We’ve called for the creation of a national safer women action plan, guided by consultations with clinicians, patients and advocates, to raise awareness and produce a blueprint for a true 21st century approach to removing these harmful gender barriers.