People
鈥�
Prof. Sandra C. Buttigieg delivers keynote address at 9th International Patient Safety Conference in Colombia
Prof. Sandra C. Buttigieg, Professor at the University of Malta and public health physician, was invited as one of three international keynote speakers at the 9th International Patient Safety Conference (IX Jornada Internacional de Seguridad del Paciente: Atención Segura para las Enfermedades No Transmisibles), organised by the Fundación Universitaria del Área Andina (Areandina) in Colombia on 18 September 2026. The virtual event gathered healthcare professionals, institutional leaders, and talent across health and social care sectors to address critical challenges in safe care for non-communicable diseases.
In her keynote address, entitled "Bridging the Safety Gap: Aligning Informal Care with Global Action Plans on Patient Safety," Professor Buttigieg addressed the vital need to look beyond traditional hospital walls and recognise the home as a distinct care ecosystem. Highlighting what she termed the "2+22 reality"—where formal healthcare professionals typically influence care for only two hours of a day while informal family caregivers manage the remaining 22 hours—she emphasised that patient safety frameworks must adapt to support the full 24-hour continuum of care.
Drawing on her research with BetterCare and international partners, Prof. Buttigieg outlined how demographic shifts, multimorbidity, and healthcare workforce shortages have led to a "silent transfer" of clinical responsibility to family members. She advocated for structural responses including safe discharge triads (assessing people, space, and equipment), caregiver education, health literacy, and case management to prevent caregiver burnout and double victimisation following safety incidents. Aligning her presentation with the WHO Global Patient Safety Action Plan and the Helsinki Declaration principle—"protecting those who care is part of protecting those who receive care"—she called on health systems to extend institutional accountability, integrate health and social services, and measure home-based safety risks to build truly resilient healthcare systems.
