Patient Safety Week (PSW) 2025: Protecting Newborns and Children from Their First Moments

Patient Safety Week (PSW) 2025 will take place from September 15 to 19, in line with World Day organized by the WHO on September 17. This edition, entitled "Safe Care for Every Newborn and Child," highlights the urgent need to strengthen the safety of pediatric and neonatal care.

Overview of Patient Safety Week 2025

a. History and Context of PSW

Patient Safety Week is an annual initiative organized by the Ministry of Health since 2011, aiming to raise widespread awareness of safety issues in medical care. In 2023, this week was aligned with the World Health Organization's (WHO) World Patient Safety Day to give this cause greater international impact. Each year, a specific theme is selected to address precise and priority issues in the field of health safety. src="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/61f1c5bbc327ec3679e7457c/67e27ad4d7dfbcb8135e0b98_ea6a6f178dd30a2c1d966f24d813771e883568e8a56bacf8260d14958d18fdd2.png" width="auto" height="auto" loading="auto">

Since its creation, the SSP has enabled many significant advances, such as the widespread adoption of rigorous hygiene practices, improved management of medication risks, and the integration of patients and families into care processes. These achievements demonstrate the concrete and positive impact of this week of mobilization.

b. The Importance of a Week Dedicated to Pediatric Care Safety

In 2025, the decision to focus on the safety of care for newborns and children responds to a worrying observation: young patients are particularly vulnerable to medical errors and preventable complications. According to international studies, incidents related to pediatric and neonatal care, particularly in intensive care, remain far too frequent.

This week therefore aims to massively mobilize all stakeholders in the healthcare system, from hospitals to healthcare professionals, including families. It also aims to raise public awareness so that everyone understands their crucial role in the safety of care provided to the youngest members of the population.

Theme and slogan of the 2025 PHS

a. “Safe care for every newborn and every child”: why this theme?

The theme chosen for National Safety Week 2025 addresses a major public health imperative: drastically reducing the risks associated with the care of pediatric populations. Every year, thousands of children are victims of adverse events associated with care (AEACs), often due to preventable errors. These events can have dramatic consequences for their health and long-term development.

This theme invites deep reflection on current practices and calls for a general mobilization to strengthen protocols, specific training in pediatric care, and to actively involve families in decision-making processes related to the safety and quality of care.

b. Deciphering the slogan “Patient safety from the start!”

The slogan adopted for this edition, “Patient safety from the start!” This slogan clearly expresses the commitment to protecting the most vulnerable from the moment they enter the healthcare system. It emphasizes that safety must be considered from birth, by anticipating potential risks and implementing the necessary preventative measures. This slogan also symbolizes a proactive philosophy for Patient Safety Week, focused on prevention, anticipation, and education. It encourages institutions to adopt a sustainable safety culture, raising awareness among both professionals and families about best practices to adopt from the earliest moments of a child's life. Major Challenges of Pediatric and Neonatal Care Safety: a. Specific Risks Related to Pediatric Care: Pediatric care presents specific risks due to the fragility of young patients and the complexity of their medical needs. These risks include medication errors, complications during invasive procedures, and hospital-acquired infections. Managing these risks requires advanced training for professionals and constant vigilance.

b. Focus on high-risk situations (complex deliveries, neonatal resuscitation)

Certain medical situations, such as complex deliveries or neonatal resuscitation, require special attention due to their high level of technicality and stress. These interventions often involve multidisciplinary teams and precise protocols, where the slightest error can have serious consequences. This is why awareness and specific training are essential.

Key Objectives of National Patient Safety Week 2025

a. Mass Awareness: Actions and Concrete Examples

The SSP 2025 plan includes massive communication campaigns to raise awareness among the public and professionals about the specific challenges of pediatric safety. Planned actions include educational workshops, continuing education sessions, and media campaigns highlighting concrete cases to illustrate the importance of daily vigilance.

b. Empowering Families: The Importance of Parental Education

Empowering families is a central pillar of this edition. It aims to give parents the knowledge necessary to quickly identify worrying signs in their child and interact effectively with medical teams. Educational workshops and accessible resources will enable families to become full partners in ensuring safe care.

National Roadmap 2023-2025 and its Influence on 2025

a. Objectives and achievements of the previous roadmap

The national roadmap for improving patient and resident safety, developed for the period 2023-2025, constitutes a fundamental basis for the 2025 PMS strategy. Officially launched during PMS 2023, it sets specific priorities and objectives aimed at significantly strengthening the safety of care.

Among the important achievements of this roadmap, we can notably mention :

• The widespread adoption of reporting practices for adverse events associated with care (AEACs), with a significant increase in reports in French healthcare facilities between 2023 and 2024.
• The enhanced integration of patients and families into clinical decision-making processes, with successful pilot programs in several French hospitals where patients participated in the development of safety protocols.
• The substantial improvement in hospital hygiene practices thanks to increased professional training and regular audits, which have significantly reduced the rate of nosocomial infections during this period.

These advances provide a solid foundation for the 2025 PHS (Public Health Strategy), building on positive results and clearly identifying areas for improvement, particularly those specifically related to pediatric and neonatal care.

b. Strategic alignment between the roadmap and the 2025 theme

The choice of the 2025 PHS theme, focused on pediatric and neonatal care, is perfectly consistent with the orientations of the 2023-2025 national roadmap. This explicitly identifies children and newborns as a population particularly vulnerable to healthcare-related risks.

The roadmap emphasizes several priorities directly addressed in the PHS 2025, including:

• The development of specific training for professionals on complex pediatric care and critical interventions such as neonatal resuscitation.
• The promotion of the active participation of families, considered essential partners in improving the safety of pediatric care.
• Improving infection prevention practices, particularly crucial in pediatric settings where young patients are highly susceptible to infection.

The strategic alignment between the national roadmap and the PHS 2025 thus ensures continuity and consistency essential for effective and sustainable results.

Active participation of healthcare facilities

a. How to effectively involve healthcare professionals?

Active participation of healthcare professionals is essential to the success of the 2025 PHS. To guarantee their commitment, several levers can be activated by healthcare facilities:

• Internal awareness: organizing information sessions, specialized conferences and discussion groups allows professionals to better understand the specific challenges of pediatric and neonatal care. Testimonies from families affected by incidents related to patient safety can also raise awareness.
• Targeted practical training: Facilities can offer specialized training in medical simulation or practical workshops, particularly on critical topics such as medication errors in pediatrics or neonatal resuscitation.
• Recognition of professional initiatives: Highlighting and rewarding medical and nursing teams that have developed innovative and effective safety practices helps to foster a positive and stimulating dynamic within the facility.

b. What types of events can you organize in your facility?

To effectively mobilize for PMS 2025, facilities can organize various impactful events that are both informative and participatory:

• Interactive parent-caregiver workshops: These workshops offer parents and healthcare teams the opportunity to discuss real-life cases, learn to communicate better together, and understand how to react to pediatric or neonatal emergencies.
• Full-scale simulations: By recreating emergency situations, such as pediatric resuscitation, facilities can test and improve team responses while raising awareness among professionals about precise procedures and strict protocols to follow.
• Expert conferences: Hosting recognized experts in patient safety Pediatric care allows for the dissemination of the latest knowledge and the promotion of best practices between institutions. These conferences can also include testimonials from families, which reinforce the emotional impact and raise awareness of the issues.

These diverse events allow institutions to strengthen their safety culture while actively involving every healthcare stakeholder, from medical teams to the families themselves.

Resources available for successful organization

a. Educational materials and tools provided by health authorities

To effectively support healthcare facilities in the success of their actions, the Ministry of Health and the High Authority for Health (HAS) provide a variety of resources specifically adapted to the 2025 theme:

• Downloadable educational kits: including posters, explanatory flyers, brochures for families on pediatric safety, and visual aids to raise awareness of best practices in child care.
• Educational videos: short and informative, these videos quickly raise awareness among a wide audience on key topics, such as infection prevention in pediatric settings or the rapid recognition of worrying clinical signs in children.
• Methodological guides: precise and comprehensive, these guides offer scientifically validated standard protocols designed to improve the safety of pediatric and neonatal care.

These resources were designed by experts in the field, thus guaranteeing their reliability and scientific relevance. Their simplified use allows institutions to quickly integrate them into their action plan.

b. Training and Webinars for Professionals and Families

In addition to educational resources, distance learning activities will be implemented to strengthen the skills of professionals and provide families with precise information:

• Specialized Webinars: organized in advance of the 2025 PMS (Pedagogical Support Week), they address specific topics such as risk management in pediatric intensive care, prevention of medication errors, and training in communication with families in situations of acute stress.
• Certified E-learning Modules: accessible to all healthcare professionals, these online training courses allow for in-depth exploration of technical topics such as pediatric emergency protocols, hygiene practices in neonatology, and the principles of medication vigilance.
• Virtual Workshops for Families: specifically designed for parents, these Interactive workshops aim to empower them regarding health and safety and help them better identify warning signs related to their child's health.

These easily accessible training sessions are an effective way to amplify the week's reach and ensure a lasting impact beyond the event.

Best practices to adopt for a successful PMS 2025

To optimize the effectiveness of PMS 2025, here is a summary of best practices observed in previous editions:

• Systematically involve families from the event design stage: their direct experience of care provides valuable insights and fosters engagement within the hospital community.
• Promote interactive and innovative formats: such as serious games, themed escape games, or "rooms of error," which stimulate The active involvement of teams and families.
• Ensure precise post-event follow-up: by systematically evaluating the results of actions taken, integrating feedback into a logic of continuous improvement of patient safety.
• Use patient and family testimonies: their accounts provide strong emotional awareness and reinforce professionals' adherence to the proposed safety protocols.

Adopting these best practices ensures each facility has a structured, effective, and sustainable approach to the safety of the most vulnerable patients.

Conclusion: Mobilizing all forces for optimal pediatric safety from birth

Patient Safety Week 2025 represents an exceptional opportunity to mobilize all healthcare stakeholders in France around a crucial issue: guaranteeing safe care for every child from birth. This week should not be seen merely as a one-off event, but as a decisive step in the sustainable evolution of medical practices. Healthcare facilities, drawing on concrete resources and the experience of past editions, have all the tools they need to achieve real progress. Close collaboration between professionals, health authorities, and families forms the basis of enhanced safety, capable of effectively protecting future generations. "Patient safety from the outset" is more than a slogan: it is a shared and essential vision for the future of children's health in France and around the world.