Ahead of World Patient Safety Day, it& #39;s worth reflecting that the term & #39;patient safety& #39; is of recent origin. There has been a big increase in the use of & #39;patient safety& #39; in English since around 1999/2000, following reports by the Institute of Medicine and UK Department of Health.

Words have meaning. Just because harm has been recognised in medicine for thousands of years, doesn& #39;t mean there has been a corresponding focus on & #39;safety& #39;.

Before & #39;patient safety& #39; was widely used, other terms were used, such as complications, accidents, mistakes, mishaps and untoward incidents. The use of the word & #39;safety& #39; suggests something new: the idea that medical harm is no longer tolerated, and should be proactively managed.

There were sporadic references to & #39;patient safety& #39; before this time in the press, and what I would argue to be an & #39;informal& #39; of common-sense understanding of the term. For example, UK ministers in the 1970s argued that medical staff going on strike would harm & #39;patient safety& #39;.

But this is a far cry from the widespread use of the term today, and a major question in this project is to ask how and why this shift to & #39;safety& #39; occurred, and the major actors involved.