Empowering Health Leaders: Sri Lanka Advances Safety Culture Through WHO Collaboration

Senior health leaders from national and sub-national levels participated in a three‑day capacity‑building workshop aimed at strengthening safety culture across Sri Lanka’s health system. The programme, held from 9–11 March 2026, was organized by the Ministry of Health & Mass Media in partnership with World Health Organization (WHO) and SingHealth Duke–NUS Institute for Patient Safety & Quality (IPSQ). 

The workshop represents a major step in advancing national commitments under the World Health Assembly Resolution 72.6 on Global Action on Patient Safety and the Global Patient Safety Action Plan 2021–2030, both of which call on countries to foster strong safety cultures through leadership, learning systems and no‑blame reporting environments. 

Sri Lanka’s Patient Safety & Accreditation Bureau (PSAB) has played a pivotal role in advancing safety culture nationally. The country’s National Policy on Healthcare Quality and Safety (2015) identifies enabling a culture of quality improvement as a priority, supported by the National Strategic Plan on Healthcare Quality and Safety, which calls for proactive safety practices and benchmarking across institutions. As Sri Lanka prepares for the rollout of its national accreditation programme, strengthening leadership and behavioural change around safety has become increasingly important. In this backdrop the workshop to capacitate policy makers and health leaders was of paramount importance in terms of its relevance as well as timing. 

Dr H M Arjuna Thilakarathne, Deputy Director General, Medical Services I of the Ministry of Health & Mass Media highlighted the importance of the workshop to advance patient safety and healthcare quality in the country. 

“Through this workshop, we hope to collectively explore how a culture of safety and learning can be strengthened within the Sri Lankan health system. Importantly, this programme aims not only to build knowledge, but also to create champions for patient safety. We hope that the participants of this workshop will become catalysts within their own institutions, promoting open discussion and learning around patient safety.”

In his opening remarks, WHO Representative to Sri Lanka, Dr Rajesh Pandav emphasized the importance of a strong safety culture. 

“A strong safety culture not only reduces patient harm but also creates a safe and supportive environment where health workers can speak up and raise concerns. By minimizing errors and encouraging continuous improvement, it strengthens the health system and supports progress toward Universal Health Coverage. Embedding safety in everyday practice helps ensure that services are reliable, equitable, and effective, so that no one is left behind.”

The workshop brought together a distinguished international faculty, including Dr Irina Papieva from WHO Headquarters, Dr Aparna Singh Shah from the WHO South‑East Asia Regional Office, and patient safety experts Dr Alvin Chang, Mr Bernard Wong, and Ms Samantha Chan from SingHealth’s Institute for Patient Safety & Quality. It was supported through the Global Patient Safety Collaborative (GPSC) which is a strategic initiative established by the joint efforts of WHO and the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. 

The first day of the workshop focused on establishing why safety culture is vital for quality healthcare, with experts contextualizing global best practices and emphasizing leadership, values, communication, and just-culture. The role of structured leadership programs, reporting systems, and a non-punitive approach to drive improvement was discussed. Day two addressed change management and underscored the importance of transformational leadership’s role in sustained culture change. Discussions on psychological safety highlighted the importance of trust and learning environments over blame. The final day focused on translating learning into actionable implementation plans. Group sharing and peer learning sessions allowed participants to present their action plans, receive feedback from colleagues, and identify opportunities for collaboration and mutual support.

Overall, the workshop demonstrated significant impact in building participant confidence and knowledge in safety culture leadership according to the feedback received. Participants identified the top three key learning areas as most valuable: leadership and safety culture, change management, and incident reporting and learning systems, which were directly aligned with the workshop's core training objectives. Participants showed strong commitment to implementing learned concepts in their respective organizations, with concrete action plans developed. The program achieved a 100% satisfaction rate among participants, with unanimous agreement that the workshop was well-organized and delivered relevant, useful content. 

The success of the three‑day training reflects the power of collaboration and the importance of local adaptation of global knowledge. World Health Organization remains committed to supporting the Ministry of Health as it advances patient safety, ensuring that every patient receives safe care and every health worker is empowered to contribute to a culture of trust, learning, and continuous improvement.