Whether you're maintaining your wellbeing or managing diabetes, heart disease, cancer, a respiratory condition or another ongoing illness, healthcare is a significant part of everyday life. If required, appointments, tests, medications, scans, treatment plans and follow-up care can fill your calendar and occupy your thoughts.

When you're already coping with the physical and psychological impact of a long-term condition, the last thing you should have to worry about is whether your care is safe.

That is why the theme of World Patient Safety Day 2026, "Safe care for noncommunicable diseases", feels particularly important. Under the slogan "Safe care for life!", the campaign highlights the need to reduce avoidable harm and improve safety for people living with long-term health conditions.

People with noncommunicable diseases (a condition that is not passed from person to person) often need ongoing care across different healthcare settings and over many years, creating multiple opportunities for safety risks to occur. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimated that one in ten patients worldwide is harmed during their care, with approximately 50% of those incidents considered preventable.

The reality of living with a noncommunicable disease (NCDs)

A NCD or chronic disease stays with the individual for a long period of time, if not for the rest of their life. Due to this, for many people, healthcare is an ongoing journey and part of their everyday life.

They may be waiting for test results, attending routine monitoring appointments or relying on regular medication to keep their condition under control. They may see different GPs, hospital consultants, specialist nurses and other healthcare professionals throughout the year, month or even week.

Most of the time, this care is delivered safely and effectively, but when something goes wrong, the consequences can be significant.

A delayed diagnosis, a missed referral, a test result that is not followed up, a medication prescription error, a failure to listen when a patient reports new symptoms, can have severe consequences even though the error or omission may be quite simplistic. These issues may sound small in isolation, but for someone already living with a long-term condition, they can have a profound impact.

More than a medical mistake

When people think about patient safety failures, they often think about the physical harm caused, but the effects are often much wider.

Many of my clients tell me that they feel scared, frustrated or ignored, because of negligent care. They have unequivocal faith in the healthcare professionals advising and treating them, and when the quality of that care falls down and amounts to negligence, the relationship of trust is jeopardised. Patients may understandably lose confidence in the healthcare system and those professionals caring for them.

For families, there can also be a deep sense of helplessness. Watching a loved one's condition worsen because of a preventable error can be incredibly distressing.

Behind every patient safety incident is a real person whose life has been affected.

Patients should feel heard, not dismissed

People living with long-term conditions are often experts in their own symptoms. They know when something feels different, when treatment is not working as expected or when their condition may be deteriorating. However, some patients describe situations where they felt their concerns were dismissed, overlooked or not fully explored, often referred to as medical gaslighting.

Listening to patients is one of the simplest and most effective ways to improve patient safety.

This year's World Patient Safety Day campaign recognises the importance of involving people with lived experience in identifying safety risks and helping shape better healthcare services

People living with long-term conditions deserve healthcare that is coordinated, connected and reliable. They should be able to trust that important information is shared, follow-up appointments are arranged and concerns are acted upon promptly.

What can patients do to ‘stay safe’?

While the responsibility for safe care rests with healthcare providers, there are steps patients can take to become more informed and engaged in their treatment, as well as better understand their treatment and identify potential issues sooner:

• Keep a record of appointments, test results and medications.
• Ask questions if something is unclear, so you fully understand your diagnosis, test, and treatment options.
• Check that healthcare professionals have access to accurate medical information.
• Report new or worsening symptoms promptly, keeping a symptoms diary can help to communicate these effectively.
• Follow up on referrals, investigations or test results where appropriate.
• Ensure you know how to take you medication, use medical devices or health tools correctly.

Learning from mistakes

Healthcare professionals work under enormous pressure, and most are committed to providing the best possible care. However, when mistakes do happen, it is essential that they are acknowledged and learned from.

Open communication, honest explanations and meaningful action to prevent similar incidents in the future are all vital parts of improving patient safety.

By understanding what went wrong, healthcare providers can make changes that protect future patients from experiencing the same harm.

Stay informed. Stay engaged. Stay safe

The message behind World Patient Safety Day 2026 is one that everyone can relate to.

At some point, most of us will rely on healthcare services, or may be living or caring for someone with a long-term health condition.

Whether someone is receiving a diagnosis, undergoing treatment or managing an illness for years to come, they deserve care that is safe, compassionate and centred around their needs.

This World Patient Safety Day, as clinical negligence solicitors we support the call for safer care for people living with long-term conditions. Because when healthcare is part of your everyday life, patient safety is not just important on one day of the year. It matters every day.

And every patient deserves nothing less than ‘safe care for life!’