By Dr Shachi Pandit Dave, Consultant Pulmonologist and Critical care specialist, Narayana Hospital, Ahmedabad
For millions of people living with diabetes, heart disease, cancer, hypertension and other chronic conditions, healthcare is not a one-time event, but a long-term relationship. The patient interacts with doctors, laboratories, pharmacies and caregivers through consultations, repeated investigations, multiple medications, changes in treatment, hospital admissions and periods of recovery. For every patient, what matters is that a hospital is a place where their safety is prioritised at every step of treatment. This year, on World Patient Safety Day 2026, the focus is on looking at safety beyond the hospital walls.
Observed every year on September 17, World Patient Safety Day aims to raise awareness and accelerate action to reduce harm in healthcare. This year’s theme – Care for non-communicable diseases – carries a particularly important message: when healthcare continues for years, safety must continue with it. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has an accompanying official slogan: ‘Safe care for life!’
Chronic disease changes the meaning of patient safety : Patient safety is often discussed in the context of surgery, care or hospital-based treatment. For a person living with a chronic disease, safety is relevant at every stage. It begins with getting the diagnosis and carries on with choosing treatment. It involves taking medicines, monitoring the disease, recognising complications, and ensuring that information is communicated when care moves from one doctor or hospital to another.
This may mean better treatment in some cases, but it also means there were so many more opportunities for vital information to be missed.
According to the WHO, people living with non-communicable diseases (NCDs) can face increased risks of harm because of the complex nature of their care, frequent interactions with healthcare systems and challenges such as fragmented care, besides a prolonged term of disease suffering.
The challenge of hidden conditions
An increasingly common reality in adult medicine is multimorbidity, which refers to a person living with several health conditions all at the same time. For instance, a patient may have diabetes and hypertension. Another may have heart disease alongside kidney disease.
An older adult may be managing chronic conditions while taking multiple medicines. Treating each condition in isolation can make healthcare more complicated.
The question is no longer simply, ‘what is the treatment for this disease’. Rather, it is ‘how does this treatment fit into the patient’s overall health picture?’ And this is where coordinated care becomes a patient-safety priority.
Medication safety is an issue
For patients with chronic conditions, medicines can become part of everyday life. But medication regimens may change as a disease progresses, and new conditions get added to existing health status. Different specialists become involved, creating a possibility of duplication, multiple interactions, incorrect doses or confusion about which medicines should be taken and which ones discontinued.
Medication safety therefore cannot be limited to what happens when a prescription is written. Patients need a proper set of instructions given by the doctor or nurse, along with a written copy of the same. Healthcare professionals need access to a medical history. This becomes apparent when changes in treatment need to be communicated, particularly when patients move between hospital and home.
A patient who understands what they are taking, why they are taking it, and when they should take it, is better positioned to participate in safer care.
Diagnosis is another safety checkpoint
Patient safety begins before treatment. A delayed, missed or incorrect diagnosis can affect every decision that follows. For NCDs early and accurate identification can be particularly important because many conditions require long-term management.
This makes it essential to have access to investigations, clinical expertise and timely follow-up.
Diagnosis is not only about technology. It is also about listening to the patient, understanding their history, recognising changes and bringing together information from sources. A safer diagnosis is often the foundation for treatment.
Patients as partners in care
One of the important messages of World Patient Safety Day 2026 is that people living with NCDs should not be treated merely as recipients of healthcare. They should be partners in care.
Patients know that some aspects of their health may not appear in their health records. They know whether a symptom is new or if they are struggling to follow a treatment plan. They may notice side effects, or changes in their ability to perform activities.
Encouraging patients to speak, ask questions and raise concerns can strengthen the safety net around them. For adults or those with complex illnesses, family members and caregivers can also play an important role.
Safety must continue after discharge
One of the misconceptions about hospital care is that a patient’s safety journey ends at being discharged after treatment. In reality, discharge can mark the beginning of another phase where the patient returns home with medicines, instructions, follow-up appointments and significant lifestyle changes. If those instructions are unclear, if follow-up is delayed or if warning signs are not recognised, the patient’s recovery can be affected.
A safe healthcare system must therefore think beyond the hospital admission. The transition from hospital to home is a part of care that also needs to be made safe.
Building a culture where safety is everyone’s responsibility
World Patient Safety Day is an opportunity to ask what safer healthcare should look like for patients, families and communities.
For healthcare organisations it means strengthening systems, improving communication, supporting healthcare workers and learning from incidents and near misses.
For healthcare professionals it means practising diagnosis, medication safety and coordinated care.
For patients it means asking questions, sharing information and becoming active participants in their treatment.
For society it means recognising that safe healthcare is an essential part of living well with chronic disease.
From treating disease to protecting the entire care journey
The future of healthcare cannot be measured by how successfully we treat a disease. We must ask how safely we can guide a person through the months or years of care that follow. And that is the message behind World Patient Safety Day 2026 observance.
For someone living with NCDs like diabetes, heart disease, cancer or another chronic condition, safe care is not an intervention; it is every consultation, every prescription, every diagnosis, every handover, every follow-up and every decision along their journey of disease management. Because when treatment is lifelong safety must be lifelong too.
