SafePAT

The SafePAT project aims to improve patient safety in international collaboration between hospitals and ambulance services in the Euregion Meuse-Rhine (EMR). A recent SafePAT study shows that around 30% of surveyed doctors, (ambulance) nurses and administrative staff was involved in international patient handover or transfer in the border regions. Respondents identify several factors that complicate international collaboration, among which language, cultural differences, differences in healthcare organization and structure of insurances, and differences in educational level and responsibilities. These factors could put patient safety at risk.

Maastricht University currently works on the development of a training for healthcare professionals. This training will address some of the abovementioned factors that seem to hamper the existing collaborations. The aim of the training is to optimize international collaboration and to improve patient safety in the EMR in the long run. For more information about the project we refer to the official website www.safepat.eu.

The Interreg V-A Euregion Meuse-Rhine (EMR) program invests up to 100 million euros in the development of this Interreg-area until 2020. The area reaches from Leuven in the West to the borders of Köln in the East, and from Eindhoven in the North up to the borders of Luxembourg in the South. More than 5.5 million people live in this cross-border region, where the best of three countries comes together in a real European society. With the investment of EU-funding in the Interreg-projects of regional project partners, the EU directly invests in the economic development, innovation, territorial development and social inclusion and education in this area.

The SafePAT project is carried out with support of the European Fund of Regional Development of the European Union. The involved provinces of Limburg (NL), Limburg (BE), Région Wallonne (BE), and Ministerium für Wirtschaft, Energie, Industrie, Mittelstand und Handwerk des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen (DE), support the project. Besides, the projectpartners Maastricht University, UHasselt, OUNL Heerlen, CHR de la Citadelle, Ziekenhuis Oost-Limburg, and Uniklinik RWTH Aachen together invest their share in the SafePAT project.