Safe NCD care needs leadership, investment and patient involvement – PharmAccess

PharmAccess has outlined four key conditions it says are necessary to make patient safety and quality care a daily reality for people living with non-communicable diseases (NCDs).

The SafeCare Director of PharmAccess Ghana, Bonifacia Benefo Agyei, identified visible leadership, sustained investment, effective measurement and active patient participation as critical to improving the safety of NCD care.

She made the call at a Ghana Health Service event in Accra to commemorate the 2026 World Patient Safety Day, which focused on safe care for non-communicable diseases under the theme “Safe care for life!”

According to the World Health Organisation, one in 10 patients is harmed while receiving healthcare globally, with around half of that harm considered preventable. People living with NCDs face particular risks because they often require continuous and complex care across different health facilities and over long periods.

NCDs, including cardiovascular diseases, cancers, and diabetes, account for about 74% of deaths globally, according to the WHO.

Ms Benefo Agyei said the risks faced by people living with chronic conditions could not be addressed through isolated interventions.

She illustrated the point with the example of a woman diagnosed with hypertension in her 40s who may have to live with the condition for another 30 to 40 years.

Such a patient could interact with hundreds of clinicians, receive numerous prescriptions and referrals, and repeatedly move between healthcare facilities, she noted.

In many cases, she said, patients are left to carry their medical histories in their memory because their folders or medical information do not move with them.

“The safety of such a woman is not in a single event. It is the sum of every consultation, every prescription, every hand-off,” she said.

Four interventions to strengthen NCD care

Ms Benefo Agyei said PharmAccess is using four interventions to address some of the points where NCD care can break down.

Through SafeCare, the organisation supports healthcare facilities to assess their services against internationally recognised standards, identify gaps and translate the findings into measurable improvements.

The programme works with the Ghana Health Service, the Christian Health Association of Ghana (CHAG), and private providers to ensure that quality improvement is embedded within Ghanaian institutions and led by local teams.

Globally, SafeCare has assessed thousands of facilities, with 74% demonstrating measurable quality improvement, according to PharmAccess.

The systems supported through the methodology currently serve approximately 9.6 million patient visits each month.

PharmAccess is also working to advance value-based care, a model that links payments to patient outcomes rather than simply the number of procedures performed.

Working with the National Health Insurance Authority and CHAG, the organisation is evaluating the approach for hypertension and diabetes, taking into account clinical outcomes, quality of life, patient experience, and financial protection.

A third intervention is NkwaPlus, a digital health platform developed with technology partner Afrifanom and currently being piloted with selected facilities and patient groups.

The platform allows patients to share health information from home with their care teams, supporting continuous monitoring and earlier intervention.

Ms Benefo Agyei said this could help ensure that emerging risks are identified before they develop into emergencies, particularly in chronic care, where patients spend much of their time outside health facilities.

The fourth intervention is the Medical Credit Fund, which provides loans and technical assistance to healthcare providers to enable them to address identified quality gaps.

She said this was important because identifying a safety risk through an assessment was of limited value if a facility lacked the resources to fix it.

The Medical Credit Fund has so far supported more than 2,100 healthcare providers and disbursed more than 12,000 loans, with a reported 95% repayment rate.

About 30% of its lending supports women-led health enterprises. Ms Benefo Agyei said the four interventions were designed to complement each other.

“Standards identify the problem, financing fixes it, digital tools catch it early, and payment reform rewards the outcome. It is the combination that makes patients safer,” she said.

Four conditions for safer care

Beyond these interventions, Ms Benefo Agyei said four conditions must be met if patient safety is to become part of everyday healthcare delivery.

She said leadership must be visible, with patient safety treated as a priority at every level of the health system.

“Patient safety must be a standing item at every level, from the ministry to the ward,” she said.

She also called for sustained investment, saying commitment to patient safety must be reflected in budgets, staffing, and operational plans.

On measurement and accountability, she said assessments, peer reviews, incident reports, and patient feedback should lead to concrete action.

“Assessments, peer reviews, incident reports and patient feedback matter only when each one ends in a named person, a date, and a change, and staff must be able to report harm without fear,” she said.

The fourth condition, she said, was making patients active partners in their own care. People living with chronic conditions, she noted, must be supported to understand their conditions, treatment, and the steps they can take to manage their health safely.

The WHO’s 2026 campaign similarly emphasises the need for people living with NCDs to be partners in safe care, while highlighting continuity of care, stronger health systems, and meaningful patient engagement.

Ms Benefo Agyei urged stakeholders to agree on a short list of practical actions, with each assigned a responsible lead, timeline, budget and measurable outcome.

She said that by the next World Patient Safety Day, the health sector should be able to identify which actions had been funded and implemented and demonstrate how they had improved safety for patients.

On behalf of PharmAccess and its Country Director, Dr Maxwell Antwi, she reaffirmed the organisation’s readiness to provide technical support and help mobilise resources with partners.

“The strongest expression of our commitment will not be spoken here today,” she said. “It will be what changes in our facilities tomorrow.”