Erice Call for Change: Utilising Patient Experiences to Enhance the Quality and Safety of Healthcare

Abstract

This ‘Erice Call for Change’ is a report from a group of experts, patients and patient representatives who met in Erice in September 2019 following previous similar meetings after the original Erice Declaration (1996). The aim of the meeting was to discuss the challenge of causal complexity and individual variation in modern healthcare. The group’s concern was the impact that new clinical decision-making tools, based on statistical correlations in large databases, could have on individual patient care if they replace other types of clinical investigation and knowledge. The group calls for a change in the approach to the care of the individual patient, and indicates some specific challenges to overcome for such changes to happen.