[Can or must the patient participate to risk management in radiotherapy?].
OBJECTIVE
The present study aimed at analyzing if patient participation constitutes a promising way of improvement of patient safety, or not. The hypothesis is that patient participation is a means to develop a safety culture based on the cooperation between patients and healthcare providers, to improve patients' satisfaction and to reduce the costs associated to adverse events.


METHODS
A half-day session was organized on this theme during a training of radiotherapy professionals on risk management. Professionals were first distributed in three subgroups according to their specialty (radiation oncologists, radiation physicists and medical technicians), and had to work on four main questions relating to participation, among which the collection of real situations in which patients effectively contributed (positively or negatively) to patient safety. Results were then collectively discussed.


RESULTS
Patient participation allows not only to detect and recover some mistakes or errors made by the professionals (error of identity), but also to decrease patients' risk behaviors (purposely taking the place of another patient in order to be treated faster). However, it must be seen as a possibility offered to patients, and not as an obligation.


CONCLUSIONS
Patient participation to patient safety is a field of study, which requires to be developed in order to define the conditions enhancing such participation and to implement a set of actions to improve healthcare safety by a cooperative management of this one.
Laboratoire d'ergonomie, centre de recherche sur le travail et le développement, Conservatoire national des arts et métiers, Paris, France. vanina.mollo@cnam.fr
V
V
Mollo
A
A
Pernet
G
G
Moutel
N
N
Duchange
P
P
Giraud
D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D003363:Cost Control; D004496:Education, Continuing / Q000379:methods; D004502:Education, Medical, Continuing / Q000379:methods; D005602:France; D006283:Health Physics / Q000193:education; D006801:Humans; D007258:Informed Consent / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D013677:Medical Laboratory Science / Q000193:education; D015279:Organizational Culture; D010358:Patient Participation / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D011369:Professional-Patient Relations; D011832:Radiation Injuries / Q000191:economics / Q000517:prevention & control; D018787:Radiation Oncology / Q000193:education; D011878:Radiotherapy / Q000009:adverse effects; D012308:Risk Management / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence