Mandatory reporting legislation in Canada: improving systems for patient safety?

Abstract

Patient safety is a complex systems issue. In this study, we used a scoping review of peer-reviewed literature and a case study of provincial and territorial legislation in Canada to explore the influence of mandatory reporting legislation on patient safety outcomes in hospital settings. We drew from a conceptual model that examines the components of mandatory reporting legislation that must be in place as a part of a systems governance approach to patient safety and used this model to frame our results. Our results suggest that mandatory reporting legislation across Canada is generally designed to gather information about – rather than respond to and prevent – patient safety incidents. Overall, we found limited evidence of impact of mandatory reporting legislation on patient safety outcomes. Although legislation is one lever among many to improve patient safety outcomes, there are nonetheless several considerations for patient safety legislation to assist in broader system improvement efforts in Canada and elsewhere. Legislative frameworks may be enhanced by strengthening learning systems, accountability mechanisms and patient safety culture.

National statutory reporting: not even ticking the boxes? The quality of ‘Learning from Deaths’ reporting in quality accounts within the NHS in England 2017–2020

“…The evidence that NSCT QI, public reporting or even legislation improves health outcomes or patient safety is sparse 4 702 703. The costs associated with healthcare policy and interventions are sometimes overlooked in lieu of the possibility of a quick fix 704.…”

National statutory reporting: not even ticking the boxes? The quality of ‘Learning from Deaths’ reporting in Quality Accounts within the NHS in England 2017-2020

“…The evidence that NSCT QI, public reporting or even legislation improves health outcomes or patient safety is sparse. [4, 36, 37] The costs associated with healthcare policy and interventions are sometimes overlooked in lieu of the possibility of a quick fix. [38] This in addition to a lack of consideration for the complexity and importance of support for implementation may prevent health policy success.…”

The future of hospital quality of care policy: A multi-stakeholder discrete choice experiment in Flanders, Belgium

“…This could be the reason that respondents in this sample tend more towards quality improvement on network level rather than to keep it on individual hospital level. The other discrete choice experiments are in line with international trends as we see that reporting of patient incidents is already mandatory in many countries [58][59][60] . Until now, in the Flemish healthcare setting, incident reporting is not yet mandatory and these results urge policymakers to rethink this choice.…”