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Leading Safety Differently Action Series: What We Learned About Safer Care
Over four months, more than 150 participants across Canada joined the Leading Safety Differently action series. They explored a shared question: how can everyday work contribute to safer care?
Across the series, one message was clear: leading safety differently is shaped through relationships, trust, learning and ongoing dialogue, not only through formal patient safety systems and compliance.
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What is an action series?
Action series are short, focused learning experiences that bring people together to learn, reflect and take practical action in their own settings. Through virtual learning sessions, peer connection and supported action periods, participants turn ideas into real-world changes that improve care and strengthen health systems. Each series focuses on a different topic, but all are designed to support learning, relationships and practical steps forward.
A community focused on safer care
Leading Safety Differently action series participants came from across the health system, including executives, quality and patient safety leaders, point-of-care providers, students and patient and caregiver partners. Together, they showed how everyone contributes to shaping safer care.
What we learned
Throughout the series, participants reflected on how safety is experienced and created in real-world settings. While every conversation was different, several common themes emerged.
Everyday work contributes to safer care
Participants increasingly moved away from seeing safety as only managed through policies and oversight. While these remain important, they noted that safer care can also be created in real time through communication, adaptation and teamwork.
As one participant reflected, “safety is created by people, not controlled by systems.”
We learn from success as well as harm
Participants highlighted the importance of learning from everyday successes, not just incidents. Focusing only on what goes wrong can miss the conditions that reliably support safer care.
As one participant noted, “patient safety is strengthened when we look beyond incidents and focus on how care is delivered successfully every day.”
Point-of-care insights matter
Participants emphasized that those closest to care often see risks and system pressures first. Creating structured opportunities for dialogue helped surface insights that are not always visible through formal reporting systems.
As one participant observed, point-of-care teams “often see risks, workarounds and pressure points before they become larger issues.”
Psychological safety supports safer care
The link between psychological safety and the ability to speak up about risk was a recurring theme. When the workforce feels respected and supported, they are more likely to speak up and share ideas.
One participant reflected that they were “struck by how strongly psychological safety and leadership presence shape whether staff feel able to speak up about risks.”
Participants also noted that workload, staffing and organizational decisions directly influence whether psychological safety can be sustained in practice.
Patients and caregivers bring critical perspectives
Conversations with patients and caregivers reinforced that safer care is about more than clinical outcomes. It also includes experience, communication and trust.
One participant observed that “many patients relied on younger family members to advocate for them, underscoring the importance of intentionally inviting patient and family voices into safety conversations.”
Another reflected that “safety includes psychological dimensions and the patient’s perception of quality and safety of care they receive.”
Relationships as the foundation of safer care
Across all settings, participants consistently said relationships are key to safety. Trust, openness and collaboration enable learning and improvement.
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What’s next: Continuing the conversation on safer care
The insights from the Leading Safety Differently action series point to a shared understanding: safer care is shaped every day by people, relationships, environments, systems and the conditions that support them – including psychological safety for the workforce.
Canadian Patient Safety Week (CPSW) 2026, taking place October 26-30, invites people across health and social care to explore the theme “What shapes safer care?” Take part by reflecting on, sharing or listening to stories and experiences that highlight how safety is created in everyday moments.