Learn more about caring safely for your child or baby | World Patient Safety Day

15th September 2025

The health board is running drop-in events for parents and carers, offering professional healthcare advice about safe care for children and babies.

The theme for World Patient Safety Day 2025 is ‘patient safety from the start’ focusing on safe care for every newborn and child. The World Health Organization is emphasising the need to act early and consistently to prevent harm throughout childhood, to safeguard a healthy future.

On World Patient Safety Day, Wednesday 17^th September, Cardiff and Vale University Health Board colleagues are holding events to share important healthcare information and advice for parents and carers of children and babies.

Health Board colleagues will be running a drop-in event in the foyer of Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospital for Wales, offering advice on healthy eating  and cooking, keeping active, dental health, childhood immunisations and medication safety for children. There will also be a range of fun activities for children and their families to get involved with.

At University Hospital of Wales’ Antenatal Clinic, colleagues will be offering advice on how to keep well both during and after pregnancy, breastfeeding, thermal regulation for babies and healthy eating during pregnancy. The smoking cessation team will also be in attendance to offer support for anybody quitting or considering quitting smoking, and activities will be run for expectant parents.

Both events are running from 11.00-13.00 on Wednesday 17^th September with no prior booking or sign-up required.

If you’d like to read more about keeping a child in your care safe, a new guide was launched earlier this year to help parents and carers feel more confident taking care of an unwell child and knowing where to go for help.

The Common Childhood Illness booklet is a free, easy-to-use booklet packed with simple, practical advice. It is available in 10 community languages to help as many families as possible access trusted health advice in a language they understand.

The booklet explains how common childhood illnesses such as coughs, colds, fevers and rashes can be managed at home and when parents should seek advice from a community pharmacy, GP, NHS 111 Wales or the Emergency Unit.

It also covers important topics including safe sleeping, emotional wellbeing and challenging behaviour and useful information about local services that can offer support.

The resource is available in: English, Welsh, Albanian, Amharic, Arabic, Dari, Farsi, Kurdish, Pashto and Tigrinya. To download the leaflet, please visit: https://cavuhb.nhs.wales/our-services/cardiff-and-vale-health-inclusion-service/common-childhood-illness/.