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National Patient Safety Award

National Patient Safety Award

Award overview:

The Saudi Patient Safety Center (SPSC) established the annual National Patient Safety Award in 2018. It continues to be annual, recognizing novel and innovative applied projects and initiatives that have contributed to the Saudi Healthcare sector's goal of reducing patient harm and spreading new and creative ways of promoting or enhancing patient safety.

Goal:
To recognize successful patient safety innovations and best practices that act as role models and are widely distributed and used in healthcare facilities to promote an organizational culture that improves healthcare safety.

Steps to Apply

Submission Guidelines

NPSA Tracks (Updated) 1- Students and Researchers
Purpose: This track aims to engage and inspire the next generation of healthcare professionals by encouraging university students and researchers to develop and submit innovative ideas and solutions for patient safety.

Description: This track is for students and researchers in healthcare-related fields. Participants are invited to present projects, research, or initiatives to improve patient safety. Creative thinking and use of new technologies, processes, or educational tools are encouraged to strengthen safety practices.

Topics:
All issues related to patient safety.

Criteria:

Innovation and solutions.
Expected impact on patient safety.
Feasibility and practicality of implementation.
Clear methodology.
Addressing key challenges and trends in patient safety.

2- Patient Engagement for Their Safety
Purpose: This track honors initiatives that work to improve patient participation in care for their own safety through programs, projects, strategies, or innovative technologies that actively involve patients in co-designing safety strategies.

Description: Focuses on improving patient and family engagement in developing high-quality, integrated, and people-centered health services. Treating patients as partners in healthcare leads to significant gains in safety, satisfaction, and health outcomes.

Topics:

Engaging patients in designing safety policies and strategies.
Practical projects to enhance communication between care providers and patients.
Improving long-term patient health and well-being.
Utilizing technologies that empower patients.
Supporting community involvement and empowering patients for safety.

3- Maternal and Newborn Safety
Purpose: This track aims to highlight the achievements of those who make significant progress in improving the safety of maternity and midwifery services by implementing new and innovative programs or technologies. The goal is to reduce maternal and newborn mortality rates, minimize risks and harm during childbirth, and improve the quality and safety of healthcare provided to women and newborns.

Description: This track has strong focus on improving continuity and safety in healthcare, given the substantial burden of risks and harm that unsafe care poses to mothers and newborns.

Topics:

Promoting respectful care for safe childbirth.
Reporting and analyzing safety incidents during childbirth.
Preventing and managing postpartum hemorrhage.
Reducing unnecessary and harmful practices affecting women and newborns during birth.
Training on safe caesarean protocols and strengthening the capabilities of healthcare workers.
Improving detection and management of high-risk pregnancies in low-resource environments.
Enhancing the safe use of medication and blood transfusion during childbirth.
Improving outcomes of newborn screening and genetic management.

4- Medication Safety
Purpose: This track aims to recognize those who make significant progress in improving medication safety by implementing programs, projects, strategies, or innovative technologies that ensure the safe use of medications without causing harm.

Description: Unsafe medication practices and medication errors are major causes of preventable harm in healthcare worldwide. The economic and psychological burden of unsafe medication care is also substantial and cannot be ignored. Therefore, medication safety is widely used in healthcare interventions.

Topics:

Improving medication safety during care transitions.
Reducing risks in high-risk situations.
Decreasing inappropriate pharmacy practices.
Reporting medication errors and learning from them.

5- Training for Patient Safety
In partnership with the Saudi Commission for Health Specialties (SCFHS)
Purpose: This track focuses on initiatives aimed at improving training, effectively integrating patient safety concepts, and demonstrating excellence in patient safety training.

Description: Training is an essential requirement for all healthcare professionals. The healthcare sector is constantly evolving, and today’s best practices can change quickly. As a result, continuous training is necessary for all healthcare practitioners, starting from trainees, to ensure high-quality and safe patient care.

Topics:

Integrating patient safety learning and practice into educational and training curricula.
Innovative strategies for training and education in patient safety, such as interprofessional education.
Creating a culture of collaborative learning based on the needs of practitioners, addressing knowledge, skill, and attitude gaps by applying patient safety standards.
Training interventions to enhance leaders’ perceptions of patient safety.
Organization-based training programs that measure skill development, behavior change, and improvement in organizational outcomes.

6- Choosing Wisely
Purpose: This track aims to highlight the Choosing Wisely initiative and honor successful projects that implement this approach.

Description: This track focuses on selecting projects within the healthcare sector that apply the Choosing Wisely initiative. The initiative seeks to enhance communication between doctors and patients to reduce low-value and unnecessary interventions by empowering patients to choose safe, evidence-based care, and avoid repeating tests or procedures that have already been completed.

Projects can be recognized for successfully applying Choosing Wisely initiatives and achieving noticeable results in one of the following fields:

Emergency Department
Primary Healthcare
Pharmacy
Radiology
Laboratory
Other areas

7- General Track for Patient Safety
The award in this track recognizes those who make significant progress in improving patient safety by introducing new and innovative systems, programs, initiatives, or technologies. These projects aim to achieve high-quality results and demonstrate best practices in areas such as diagnostic safety, surgical safety improvement, or other important topics including but not limited to:

Topics:

Innovation in diagnostic and surgical techniques.
Improving patient safety through technology.
Mental health in the workplace.
Patient safety in primary and remote healthcare.
Safety in urgent and emergency care and referrals.
Enhancing care for the elderly and home healthcare services.

8- Healthcare-Associated Infection Prevention and Control
Purpose: This track aims to recognize individuals, teams, and healthcare institutions in the Kingdom that have made measurable progress in preventing, early detection, and effective management of bacterial sepsis, recognizing it as a major challenge to patient safety and quality of care. This track aligns with Saudi Vision 2030, the National Transformation Program, and the standards of the Saudi Patient Safety Center and the Ministry of Health, aiming to enhance care quality and reduce infection-related complication and mortality rates in hospitals and healthcare centers.

Description: Healthcare-associated infections are life-threatening emergencies caused by excessive immune responses to infections, leading to organ dysfunction and potentially progressing to shock and multiple organ failure. Infections present a challenge in hospitals, especially among the elderly, newborns, pregnant women, and patients with chronic diseases or immune deficiency. This track encourages programs that show concrete improvements in early sepsis detection rates, reduced mortality, and enhanced patient experience, considering the specific needs of the Saudi healthcare system context.

Topics:

Early recognition and rapid response.
Implementing early screening protocols and tools in emergency departments, intensive care units, and inpatient wards.
Applying nationally approved infection prevention bundles such as CAUTI, CLABSI, SSI, and Sepsis.
Supervising and optimizing antibiotic use.
Training physicians and pharmacists on national antibiotic treatment guidelines.
Technology and innovation used in infection prevention and reduction.

9- Leadership in Patient Safety
Purpose: This track aims to honor outstanding leaders in the health sectors or institutions who have shown exceptional commitment and clear vision in supporting, innovating, and empowering healthcare practitioners and patients to advance the concept of patient safety. The track focuses on leaders who embrace safety as a core value, create an environment that encourages innovation, and ensure the involvement of all stakeholders in achieving the highest standards of safe care.

Description: Effective leadership is a cornerstone of building a safe and trustworthy healthcare system. This track is designed to celebrate leaders who go beyond traditional roles to be catalysts for positive change in patient safety. This includes leaders who set clear strategies, provide necessary resources, support initiatives that empower healthcare practitioners to apply best practices, and engage patients as key partners in their safety journey. Their commitment goes beyond compliance with standards to introduce a culture of accountability and continuous learning from errors, leading to concrete and sustainable improvements in patient safety outcomes.

Target Group: Senior executives responsible for decision-making, including hospital or facility directors, sector managers, medical directors, executive directors, or chief executives.

Topics:

Leadership initiatives to introduce a strong organizational culture focused on patient safety, inside or outside the organization.
Supporting healthcare practitioners by encouraging the use of best patient safety practices.
Specialized programs to support healthcare professionals scientifically and psychologically after patient safety events, enabling learning without fear of blame.
Leading initiatives that strengthen patient and family engagement.
Adoption of innovative solutions and advanced technologies by leadership to reduce patient safety events.
Demonstrating effective leadership in managing patient safety crises.

10- Emotional Safety

Purpose: This track aims to recognize innovative programs, systems, and practices that strengthen Emotional Safety as a core dimension of patient safety. Emotional Safety refers to an intentional, interdisciplinary practice that promotes trust, resilience, healing, and protection from emotional harm during healthcare experiences . Projects under this track should demonstrate measurable progress in reducing fear, distress, trauma, or psychological harm, particularly for children, adolescents, and other vulnerable populations, and advancing a culture that values both physical and emotional safety equally.

Description: Emotional Safety is foundational to safe, high-quality care. Evidence shows that fear, unmanaged anxiety, poor communication, and traumatic healthcare experiences can cause long-term psychological and behavioral consequences, reduce adherence to treatment, and negatively affect trust and future healthcare engagement.

Projects may range from frontline clinical interventions to institutional-level policy or culture change initiatives. Submissions should reflect clear methodology, innovation, measurable outcomes, and potential for replication.

Topics

Identifying psychosocial risks, strengths, coping needs, trauma history, and distress levels
Delivering emotionally safe, developmentally appropriate, and trauma-informed care
Creating physical and organizational environments that support emotional well-being
Building workforce capability and sustaining emotional safety culture

Submission is now closed (the deadline was December 13 2025 at 11:59 PM). You can still log into the National Patient Safety Award portal to check the status of your submitted projects through the next link

National Patient Safety Award portal

Submission Eligibility and General Criteria:
This award is given to recognize the efforts made towards improving patient safety to obtain safe healthcare that contributes to avoiding harm in the health care system; Therefore, there are several criteria that must be considered when preparing for submission, (All submissions must satisfy the following):

An implemented project related to the announced tracks, that has not won the National Patient Safety Award.
There is no specific timeframe for the project, as long it can exhibit a unique and creative approach that can be implemented by other organizations of different sizes.
Collaborative and interprofessional team approach that includes leaders/senior management.
Demonstrate exceptional commitment to improving patient safety within an organization or community institution.
Use of evidence and leading practices. In addition to attaching related supporting documents.
Adoption of a comprehensive approach to quality improvement/change management and program implementation.
Avoid submitting patient safety projects that are considered routine daily work.
Submissions must be in the English language except for the community organizations.

Tips For Successful Entries

Keep in mind that you can apply in more than one track with different projects: Doing so will increase your chances of winning! However, make sure you meet the criteria and requirements for each track and category.
Clearly set out the benefits of your entry: W.rite in clear, concise, avoiding jargon, and abbreviations.
Use attachments wisely: Attach documents to support your application but keep them brief and to the point. They should only contain material that will assist the judges in understanding the impact of your work.
Ensure to back up your project with evidence: Judges are looking for entries that have good data. For example, measurable results of your actions that support your entry, Key actions that were taken to achieve your results, and feedback from those affected by your project.
Ask an expert to look through your entry prior to submission: It is useful to have someone who was not directly involved in the work you're entering, to have their feedback and insight as a personal judgment.
Prior submission: To prevent being disqualified, double-check that you have completed all of the entry requirements and given all of the needed requirements

https://www.spsc.gov.sa~/assets/Awards/award-steps/%D9%86%D9%86%D8%B5%D8%A7%D8%A6%D8%AD%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AA%D9%82%D8%AF%D9%8A%D9%85%20-01%20(1).png

If you received the award last year, can you apply this year?

Answer: Yes, as long as it is a different project

If I have any questions while preparing my submission, who can help?

Answer: send an email to awardspsc@spsc.gov.sa questions that will be answered.

Can I apply in Arabic?

Answer: only community groups can apply in Arabic. If you do apply in Arabic, you will be requested to translate the submission to English.

How many entries can I make?

Answer: As many as you want but projects should be different and not duplicated at all the tracks.

Can you apply as an individual or do you have to go through an organization?

Answer: You can submit as individual

How to Prepare your Project For Submission

Overview:
For complete information regarding the eighth edition of the National Patient Safety Award, please see the following document.

Winners :
Congratulations to the winners of the 2025 National Patient Safety Award

Armed Forces Hospital - Southern Region (Khamis Mushait)

King Fahd Military Medical Complex - Dhahran

Withheld due to submitted projects not meeting the track's evaluation criteria.

King Khalid Hospital in Najran - Najran Health Cluster

Care Medical Hospital - Al-Malaz

Withheld due to submitted projects not meeting the track's evaluation criteria.

King Faisal Specialist Hospital & Research Centre – Jeddah

General Directorate of Health Services at the Ministry of Defense

King Faisal Medical Complex - Taif

Jeddah Health Cluster 2

King Saud Medical City - First Health Cluster in Riyadh

Vision

Safer Healthcare

Values

- Patient First - Professionalism - Transparency - Learning Organization - Innovation

Message

Raising the level of safety in the health system by promoting best practices and increasing awareness and knowledge in the field of patient safety.

Strategic Pillars

Safe System, Patient Empowered, Excellent Performance

Strategic goals

Governance of patient safety practices

Building a measurement and learning system

Empowering patients and the community

Leading improvement and innovation in patient safety

Partnership in Patient Safety

Transition of Care for Cardiac Patients in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia

Saud Al Babtain Cardiac Center

Optimization of the Efficient Use of Intravenous Human Albumin for Intensive Care Unit Patients

Mouwasat Hospital

Streamline Patient Pathway Across Emergency Department & Urgent Care Clinic (UCC) for Efficient & Safe Care

King Khaled Hospital in Al-Kharj

Track for University Students and Interns

Transvaginal Probes Decontamination Methods in Saudi Arabia

King Saud University

Utilization of Smart Bed Notification System for Prevention of Patient Fall Among Bedridden Patients

Medical City in Buraydah Colleges

HygieGuard

Albaha University

Mobile App to Assess Risk of Recurrent Falls to Enhance Patient Safety

Buraydah Colleges

Dignostic Safey

Interventional Radiology Role in Diabetic Foot Management and Reduction of Amputation Rates in Prince Sultan Military Medical City

Prince Sultan Military Medical City

Enhancing Diagnostic Safety in Hepatocellular Carcinoma Care through Virtual Liver Tumor Boards and Standardized Clinical Pathways

King Fahad Specialist Hospital - Dammam

Rapid Multiplex PCR Achieves Over 99% Reduction in TAT for Respiratory Pathogen Testing Compared to Traditional Methods in the Laboratory Department until August 2024

Prince Sultan Armed Forces Hospital - Madinah

Engaging Patient in Patient Safety

مستشفى الملك فهد للقوات المسلحة جدة اشتراك المرضى من أجل سلامتهم.png

Implementing a Patient-Centered Stoma Care Guideline for Enhanced Quality of Life, Safety, and Efficiency of Care

King Fahad Armed Forces Hospital - Jeddah

مدينة الأمير سلطان الطبية العسكرية مسار إشراك المرضى من أجل سلامتهم.png

Enhancing the Involvement of Caregivers Preventable Hospital Readmission through a Structured Training Program

Prince Sultan Military Medical City - Jeddah

مستشفى الملك فهد للقوات المسلحة جدة اشتراك المرضى من أجلها سلامتهم مشروع آخر.png

Enhancing After-Visit Summary Distribution in Pediatric Surgery Clinics: The Role of Family Engagement in Quality Improvement

King Fahad Armed Forces Hospital - Jeddah

Safe Maternity and Newborn Care

مجموعة الدكتور سليمان الحبيب مسار الأم.png

Neonatal Birth Injury Reduction

Dr. Sulaiman Al Habib Medical Group - Riyadh

مستشفى الولادة والأطفال بريدة مسار الأم.png

Maternity Live Dashboard for Enhancement Safe Motherhood

Maternity and Children Hospital - Buraydah

مسار الأم مستشفى الولادة بالخرج.png

Implementation of "Code Purple" for the Management of Massive Blood Transfusion: A Comprehensive Approach to Enhance Maternal Safety

Maternity and Children Hospital - Al-Kharj

Medication Safety

Deprescribing Medications in Geriatric Care for Better Health: Enhancing Safety, Improving Quality of Life, and Achieving Cost Savings in Alignment with Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 Goals in Outpatient Pharmacy at KFAFH

King Fahad Armed Forces Hospital - Jeddah

2- Optimizing Prescription Accuracy: The Role of Standardized Dosing Protocols in Reducing Electronic Prescribing Errors

King Fahd Military Medical Complex

Adopting “Medication without Harm “for Detection and Prevention of Benzodiazepine Misuse, Dependence & Addiction to Improve Patient Safety and Quality of Care

Eradah Mental Health Complex -Najran

Safe Surgery

Enhancing the Surgical Services Outcomes with the Implementation of the Integrated Preoperative Care Unit (IPCU)

Medical City, King Saud University

Reducing Postdural Puncture Headache Incidence at Najran Armed Forces Hospital

Armed Forces Hospital - Najran

Improving Operating Room (OR) Performance to Maximize Utilization and Reduce Surgical Waiting Lists

Eye Specialist Hospital - Dhahran

Patient Safety Training

TeamSTEPPS Training for Diagnosis Improvement Program

Eradah Mental Health Complex - Najran

Integrating the Patient Safety Learning and Practice into MBBS Curriculum: A Project Initiative at Fakeeh College for Medical Sciences, Saudi Arabia

Fakeeh College for Medical Sciences

The Practice Transition Accreditation Program

King Fahad Specialist Hospital - Dammam

Choosing Wisely

Cost Reduction and Impact of Pharmacist Led-Intervention Program on Stress Ulcer Prophylaxis Protocol Adherence in non-ICU Hospital Wards

Armed Forces Hospital in Jazan

Enhancing Patent Safety and cost-Effectiveness: The Role of Early MRI in Emergency Stroke Care

King Fahad Armed Forces Hospital - Dhahran

Enhancing Patient Engagement and Safety through a Modified Breast Clinical Pathway

King Faisal Specialist Hospital & Research Centre - Madinah

General Patient Safety Track

Decrease the Number of CAUTI Cases in Acute Care Admission Unit (ACAU)

King Faisal Specialist Hospital & Research Centre - Jeddah

Enhancing Patient Safety Through the Implementation of a Novel Pulmonary Embolism Response Team

King Fahad Armed Forces Hospital - Dhahran

Advanced Per-oral Endoscopic Myotomy (A-POEM) to Enhance Patient Safety and Care Quality in Gastro Endoscopy for Achalasia

King Fahad Specialist Hospital - Buraydah

Mentorship Track

Implementation and spread of Mentorship and CUSP Program: Comprehensive Unit-based Safety Program to Improve Unit-level Patient Medication Safety to Achieve Medication Without Harm

Eradah Mental Health Complex - Najran

Hospital Wide Supervised Management (Strategic Management and Oversight Approach for Patient Safety Improvement: Optimizing Project Implementation and Outcomes)

King Faisal Specialist Hospital & Research Centre - Madinah

Improving the safety of caesarean delivery through placenta accreta spectrum (PAS) pathway

(Safe Maternity and Newborn Care)

King Faisal Medical Complex Hospital in Taif

Implementation Outcomes of Extravasation Safety Bundle of Care.

(Medication safety Track)

University Medical City King Khalid University Hospital

Patient Engagement in Patient Safety Events Reporting System (SAFER)

(Engaging Patients in Patient Safety)
Medical Centre Hospital – King Abdullah Road

Advancing Emergency Care Accessibility and Efficiency through the Establishment of Urgent Care Clinic: A Collaborative Approach with Primary Health Sector

(General Patient Safety Track)

Maternity and Children's Hospital in Al-Kharj

Promoting Parental Engagement for early expression of breast milk in mothers of preterm infants in the neonatal unit: a best practice implementation project

(Engaging Patients in Patient Safety)

King Saud Medical City_Riyadh

Optimizing the prescribing and dispensing of Human Albumin %20 in medical setting

(Choosing Wisely Track)

Hospital, King Fahad Al-Madinah Al-Munwar

A Comprehensive Approach to Eliminating Central Line Associated Bloodstream

Infections (CLABSI) in ICU patients

(General Patient Safety Track)

King Saud Medical City_Riyadh

Embracing the Use of Wound, Ostomy and Continence Champions (WOCC) in Tertiary Care Hospital; A Pioneering initiative in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

(Excellence in Patient Safety)

Specialist Hospital & Research Centr Jeddah

Safe Transition of Care rack-Engaging Patient in Patient Safety

(Engaging Patients in Patient Safety)

Health Cluster (EHC) Town Dammam, Eastern Region

Reduce the risk of anaesthesia medication error by adopting the “Colour Coding System”

(Medication safety Track)

Dr Sulaiman Al Habib Medical Group Buraydah, Qassim

The Unified Fast-Track Protocol for Enhanced Surgical Patient Safety project

(Safe Surgery Track)

Dr Sulaiman Al Habib Medical Group Riyadh

Outpatient parenteral (IV) antimicrobial (or antibiotic) therapy (OPAT)

(General Patient Safety Track)

King Fahad Specialist Hospital, Dammam

Impact of Reducing First-Time C-Section Rates of Singleton Babies On Maternal, New-born Safety and Hospital Efficiency

(Safe Maternity and Newborn Care)

Al Hada Armed Forces Hospital Taif, Makkah

Reducing the Antipsychotic Polypharmacy and high doses regimens through "choosing wisely" initiative and deprescribing tools to improve quality of life and decrease cost.

( Choosing Wisely Track)

Complex Eradah for Mental Health, Najran

The Daily Improvement Coach Program: Enhancing Patient Safety through Continuous Improvement

(Patient Safety Training Track)

King Faisal Specialist Hospital & Research Centre Madinah

Healthcare Quality Management Program (HQMP)

(Patient Safety Training Track)
Ministry of Defense Healthcare Services Riyadh

Improving Patient safety by improving Nutrition High Risk Screening referral for All new admissions

(Excellence in Patient Safety)

King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center Riyadh/Jeddah/Madinah

Enhancing patient safety through integration of CMR to reinforce non-invasive cardiac evaluation

(Safe Surgery Track)

Hospital King Khalid Najran

Using rapid molecular testing to improve antibiotic stewardship

(Medication safety Track)

King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre,Riyadh

Certified Medication Safety Officer (CMSO)

(Patient Safety Training Track)

Ministry of Defense Health Services (MODHS) Riyadh

Improving Utilization of selected lab reagents in KAMCJ lab

(Choosing Wisely Track)
King Abdullah Medical Complex – Jeddah

Imrpoving Operating Rom Efficiency

(Safe Surgery Track)

King Khaled Eye Specialist Hospital Riyadh

Promoting Natural Birth Investigation of the factors associated for improving natural (Veginal) birth and its Cost-Effectiveness at Armed Forces Hospital in Jubail

(Safe Maternity and Newborn Care)

Armed Forces Hospital, King Abdul Aziz Naval Base in Jubail

Choosing Wisely Track
Reducing Vitamin D Laboratory Testing at Outpatient Clinics in a Tertiary Cardiac Centre Prince Sultan Cardiac Center
Proton Pump Inhibitors (PPIs) Stewardship International Medical Center

Patient Safety Training Track
Enhancing Patient- Safety Through Interprofessional Education Projects Clinical Skills and Simulation Centre (CSSC) at King Abdulaziz University (KAU)
Implementing Inter-Professional Education Towards Better Patient Care King Faisal Specialist Hospital & Research Centre- Jeddah

Medication Without Harm Track
Enhancement Medication Error Reporting Culture King Saud Medical City- Riyadh
ZERO Harm Related to Antithrombotic Medications King Faisal Specialist Hospital & Research Centre- Riyadh

General Patient Safety Track
CPAP Initiation in The Delivery Room for Preterm Neonates King Saud Medical City- Riyadh
Zero CLABSI Performance Improvement Project King Faisal Specialist Hospital & Research Centre- Riyadh
Building Organizational Framework of Robust Process Improvement King Faisal Specialist Hospital & Research Centre- Jeddah
Hip Fracture Pathway King Faisal Specialist Hospital & Research Centre- Riyadh