Should violation of consumers’ emotional safety be a ‘never event’?
We think of consumer safety primarily in terms of physical harm. But consumers often conceptualise safety as ‘feeling safe’, as well as ‘being safe’.
Violating a consumer’s emotional safety while avoiding physical harm is not yet embedded in consumer safety reporting. We know that consumers can experience emotionally harmful experiences as they navigate health services, such as: disregard for their opinion, not being listened to, rudeness and abuse. Are we doing consumers and families a disservice by ignoring or denying harm that doesn’t fit our organisational definition?