NHS England and NHS Improvement have launched a new Patient Safety Strategy “Safer culture, safer systems, safer patients”. The Secretary of State asked NHSI and NHSE to develop a new patient safety strategy to act as a “golden thread” running throughout healthcare. The strategy focuses on three main areas of activity:
- Insight - the utilisation of patient safety metrics to improve understanding of safety
- Involvement- involvement of patients, the public and the healthcare workforce and equip them with the skills to improve patient safety
- Improvement – programmes and initiatives designed to improve patient safety in focussed areas
In response to the release of the strategy, RCSEd President, Professor Mike Griffin, said:
“We welcome the release of today’s NHS Patient Safety Strategy. Patient safety is at the heart of the work of all Royal Colleges and is a key priority for RCSEd. It is particularly promising to see the inclusion of the role patients and the public can play in improving safety and we look forward to seeing more detailed information on the use of patient safety partners in the coming months. It is also pleasing to see the focus on changing the culture across the NHS in order to move away from a blame culture and towards one in which every member of staff feels responsible for improving the safety of patient care.
As a College we will continue to influence the patient safety agenda and encourage change through our human factors training, our anti-bullying and undermining campaign and through the work of the RCSEd’s patient safety committee.”
