About LINNEAUS EURO-PC

What is the LINNEAUS collaboration?

We initially came together as a group of researchers from seven countries (USA, UK, Canada, The Netherlands, Germany, Australia and New Zealand) comprising of clinicians, social scientists, health care researchers and managers. We identified early on the need to focus on improving patient safety in primary care. We recognised from our own practise that the issues raised in relation to patient safety in primary care were conceptually and organisationally different from those encountered in secondary and specialist care. We therefore formed collaboration with a view to sharing experience and knowledge in relation to patient safety in primary care. The LINNEAUS-PC (Learning from InterNational Networks About Errors And Understanding Safety in Primary Care) collaboration has been active since 1999.

Initially set up with a grant from the Commonwealth Fund and the American Academy of Family Physicians, the LINNEAUS-PC collaboration has completed work on the feasibility of reporting of errors in primary care in a 7 country study, developed some preliminary ideas about a taxonomy of errors suitable for primary care and carried out work in the USA and the UK on the utility of medico-legal databases for understanding errors in primary care. The UK and the Netherlands have developed work on safety culture with the UK developing a widely used tool for assessing culture in primary care (The Manchester Patient Safety Framework). Additionally the Netherlands group has validated and translated the Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture (HSPSC) for use in the primary care setting. The core group of LINNEAUS-PC collaboration research in patient safety has produced six research papers published in scientific journals.

The collaboration has also obtained research awards made to members of the collaboration in Australia, Germany and New Zealand. LINNEAUS-PC has also been invited by the World Health Organisation (WHO) to contribute to the World Alliance on Patient Safety. Based on the LINNEAUS-PC collaboration, the Institute of General Practice in Frankfurt established a continuous, anonymous web based reporting system for general practice (www.jeder-fehler-zaehlt.de). This has now been expanded following funding by the Federal Ministry of Health to include practice assistants and other health care professionals. The German group has also developed a significant event analysis for use in quality circles and by practice teams. Work is also being carried out on medication errors focusing on polypharmacy and inappropriate prescribing in the elderly. The Institute in Frankfurt was a founding member of the German Alliance for Patient Safety.