The Patient First Review's purpose is to ask Saskatchewan residents about the way health care services are delivered to them, and to explore ways to improve the patient experience in Saskatchewan. It invites members of our province to identify what's working well and what needs to change. You can follow the review questions along in the Patient First Review Interactive Guide.

As CEO of Safe Saskatchewan and a Saskatchewan resident, I feel compelled to point out this impact that vibrates through our healthcare system from preventable injuries.  Fighting for injury prevention can sometimes feel like an uphill battle, but when 40 per cent of all emergency room visits are from unintentional injuries, one can see the adverse impact to patient service delivery in our current health care system. Safe Saskatchewan and its partners believe the solution lies in heightening injury prevention efforts in our province; we believe there is an opportunity for the Patient First Review to consider this on the path to placing patient care high on the list of our provincial health care priorities.

A truly patient-centred health care system can recognize that unintentional injuries are predictable and preventable events that should no longer contribute to our health care's overall burden. Let's put patients first. Better yet, let's prevent unintentional injuries from creating more patients and detracting from the service levels provided to existing patients.

It would benefit the Patient First Review to include this perspective in its final analysis. It is Safe Saskatchewan's belief that prevention should form the foundation of a patient-centred health care delivery system.  Please use your voice and share your experiences with this review. Here is the blog to access more information http://www.patientfirstreview.ca/Commissioners-Blog/.