Sometimes meaningful change begins with a simple idea. The Doctor Safety Project started with a team's passion to improve patient safety and health literacy worldwide.
The team envisioned a way to teach essential health and safety concepts to children. With support from the Elsevier Foundation and in collaboration with the World Patients Alliance, that idea grew into a global initiative: a series of Doctor Safety children’s books designed to help young readers understand the importance of safe healthcare practices.
Today, the project is reaching hospitals, schools, families, and policymakers around the world, helping build awareness about patient safety from an early age.
Turning one idea into a global patient safety initiative
Doctor Safety is a series of illustrated books created for children aged 6–12. Through engaging stories and relatable characters, the books introduce important health and safety topics in a way that is easy to understand and fun to read.
Each book focuses on practical behaviours that support safer care, including:
Proper handwashing
Safe use of medication
Antimicrobial resistance
Speaking up and asking questions about health
Injection Safety
By presenting these concepts through storytelling, the series makes complex healthcare ideas accessible without overwhelming young readers.
Why it matters
Unsafe care remains a significant global challenge, contributing to millions of preventable deaths each year, particularly in low- and middle-income countries.
Improving patient safety requires not only better systems and policies, but also stronger health literacy. By teaching children about safe healthcare behaviours early in life, the Doctor Safety Project aims to foster a generation that values safety, understands evidence-based care, and feels empowered to participate in their own health.
Early education can shape lifelong habits — making children powerful advocates for safer care within their families and communities.
Our Editorial Board
President of Mothers Against Medical Error and Consumers Advancing Patient Safety
Executive Director, for Community Health and Information Network (CHAIN)
Award-winning children's books author
Quality, Patient Safety and Innovation Manager at Elsevier
CEO of World Patients Alliance
Pediatrician and poet
Writer and Illustrator
Friends of Doctor Safety
