Unsafe health care remains a problem of immense magnitude worldwide. The development of solutions and initiatives aimed at driving change towards greater patient safety has become a pressing need, and is recognized by the public health community. As part of one such initiative--the patient safety friendly hospital initiative--the WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean developed a set of patient safety standards and tools, with the aim of assessing the patient safety programs in hospitals and instilling a culture of safety. This manual contains the patient safety standards and a set of patient friendly hospital assessment tools, which is intended for use by trained evaluators in assessing hospital patient safety programs. Ministries of health, academic institutions and professional associations are encouraged to adopt and use these tools.