Provincial Law Supporting Patient Safety

At Eastern Health, we are legally bound to follow the Patient Safety Act.

Introduced in Newfoundland and Labrador in 2017, the Patient Safety Act:

• ensures patients and families have access to information about their care;
• ensures regional health authorities consistently report to the Minister of Health and Community Services on indicators such as hand washing;
• establishes regional and provincial structures to oversee quality assurance activities;
• protects health providers who participate in quality assurance activities from reprisal; and
• addresses the recommendations of the Report of the Commission of Inquiry on Hormone Receptor Testing.

This legislation marks the first time in Newfoundland and Labrador that patients and their families have the statutory right to recommendations that are the result of a quality assurance activity related to an adverse health event. An adverse event is an occurrence that results in an unintended outcome which negatively affects a patient’s health or quality of life.