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The Uganda Alliance of Patients' Organizations has produced three videos for World Patient Safety Day 2026. Last week
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SACCIA is not a set of communication rules to memorise. It is a framework for understanding, developing and applying the communicative competencies that enable people to build shared understanding together. -
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Cyber incidents can have a major impact on care services. Systems may be unavailable, information may be difficult to access, and staff, people drawing on care, families and partners may need clear updates quickly. Good communication helps reduce uncertainty, supports safe care and makes sure the right people know what is happening, what they need to do and when they will be updated again. Digital Care Hub has developed editable communication checklists to help adult social care providers prepare before a cyber incident and communicate during one. There are separate versions for home care services and care homes. Each checklist should be used alongside your Business Continuity Plan. -
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Transformative Simulation considers how simulation can be intentionally used beyond education to understand and contribute to change within healthcare systems. The Improvement Simulation-Based Intention focuses on using simulation to make what already exists better—testing and refining healthcare processes, pathways and systems where a problem or desired outcome has already been identified. This resource from hub topic lead Sharon Weldon brings together a short Transformative Simulation thought piece, visual explainer and selected examples from the literature demonstrating how simulation has been used to support patient safety and system improvement in practice. Further resources from Sharon on Transformative Simulation: Using simulation to strengthen workforce participation, belonging and wellbeing: The Inclusion Intention Using simulation to involve patients and communities in shaping safer care: The Involvement Intention Using simulation to identify patient safety challenges: The Identification Intention -
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This is the second of two investigation reports into crisis care in emergency departments (EDs). An interim report was published in April 2026 following early identification of a significant legal, policy and safety gap in the care of people in mental health crisis in EDs. This report is part of the Health Services Safety Investigations Body (HSSIB)’s wider work on safety issues for people experiencing a mental health crisis who come into contact with urgent and emergency care services. A related investigation is examining the 999 and 111 response to mental health crisis and will report its findings in spring 2027. The two investigations consider different points in the same pathway. Wider health and care system issues are included where they directly affect ED care, and further themes may be brought together in a separate, final report drawing on evidence from both investigations. Around 3% of ED attendances are mental health-related. However, people experiencing mental health problems are twice as likely as other patients to remain in the ED for more than 12 hours. -
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Richard Yates and Magdalene Plesa gave a presentation at a recent Safer Healthcare Biosafety Network meeting describing the issue of formalin and formaldehyde exposure in UK healthcare settings, with harmful side effects for healthcare workers and a lack of occupational protection or safety regulation. -
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Transformative Simulation considers how simulation can be intentionally used beyond education to understand and contribute to change within healthcare systems. The Inclusion Simulation-Based Intention focuses on using simulation to strengthen workforce participation, belonging, empowerment and wellbeing, creating conditions in which people feel able to contribute meaningfully to healthcare systems and change. This resource from hub topic lead Sharon Weldon brings togethers a short Transformative Simulation thought piece, visual explainer and selected examples from the literature demonstrating how simulation can contribute to more inclusive, connected and psychologically safe healthcare workplaces. Further resources from Sharon on Transformative Simulation: Using simulation to improve patient safety and healthcare systems: The Improvement Intention Using simulation to involve patients and communities in shaping safer care: The Involvement Intention Using simulation to identify patient safety challenges: The Identification Intention -
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In this blog to mark World Patient Safety Day 2026, Patient Safety Learning argues that we need a transformation in our approach to patient safety. We explore what this year’s theme, “Safe care for noncommunicable diseases,” means for patient safety and highlight the work Patient Safety Learning has been doing to support the campaign. This includes a downloadable poster and a series of related blogs on the hub, offering practical insights and resources to help drive action for safer care. -
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World Patient Safety Day (WPSD 2026) offers an opportunity to rethink whose expertise shapes safer care. Learn why patients and families must be meaningfully engaged in designing care for noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) across the full journey in this blog from the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI). -
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Currently, around one in every ten patients globally are harmed by unintended or unexpected events during the provision of healthcare, and more than three million deaths occur annually due to unsafe care practices. In the past three years, 9.7% of British adults reported harm from NHS care or lack of access to care. To tackle this, there is ongoing work across the sector to improve safety by reducing avoidable harm and by minimising adverse events and medical errors. Thursday, 17 September marks World Patient Safety Day 2026, established by the World Health Organization (WHO) to bring together service users, providers, and governments in advocating for patient safety. To mark World Patient Safety Day, Molly Hopson, senior research associate at Picker, reflects on what available data on patient and staff experience tells us about patient safety in the NHS in England, and what the link is between patient safety and experience. -
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Fatal and serious harm continues to occur when patients fall from hoists or slings during transfers and repositioning. A review of recent incidents with a fatal outcome and wider surveillance data shows an average of two deaths per year since 2015. -
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David Osborn, formerly a member of CATA’s Executive Team (the Covid Airborne Transmission Alliance) provides his perspective on Baroness Hallett’s Module 3 report 'Impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on Healthcare Services' to the SHBN (the Safer Healthcare Biosafety Network). -
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AI is already reshaping healthcare, from ambient voice scribes in GP practices to patients self-diagnosing through large language models before they reach a clinician. But the question of whether it is making care safer or introducing new risk is not being answered clearly enough. In this session from the Connected Health & Care Summit 2026, Mark Linggood of RLDatix and Clive Flashman, Chief Digital Officer at Patient Safety Learning, hold a frank discussion on the evidence, the regulatory gaps and the role AI could play in improving incident reporting itself. Watch a candid discussion between RLDatix and Patient Safety Learning on how AI is affecting patient safety, what the research shows, where the regulatory gaps exist and how AI could transform incident reporting. -
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As part of their commitment to transparency and improvement, NHS England has published segmentation and league table figures for Quarter 1 (Q1), under the NHS oversight framework 26/27 and will continue to do so quarterly. The dashboards provide a view of how NHS trusts are performing in key services including urgent and emergency care, elective services, mental health and more. -
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The Thirlwall Inquiry was set up to examine events at the Countess of Chester Hospital between 2015 and 2018 and their implications following the trial, and subsequent convictions, of former neonatal nurse Lucy Letby of murder and attempted murder of babies at the hospital. The report of the public inquiry has now been presented to Parliament. -
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Transformative Simulation considers how simulation can be intentionally used beyond education to understand and contribute to change within healthcare systems. The Identification Simulation-Based Intention focuses on using simulation to uncover risks, vulnerabilities, unmet needs and other aspects of healthcare systems that may otherwise remain difficult to see. This resource from hub topic lead Sharon Weldon brings together a short Transformative Simulation thought piece, visual explainer and selected examples from the literature demonstrating how simulation has been used to identify patient safety and system challenges in practice. Further resources from Sharon on Transformative Simulation: Using simulation to improve patient safety and healthcare systems: The Improvement Intention Using simulation to strengthen workforce participation, belonging and wellbeing: The Inclusion Intention Using simulation to involve patients and communities in shaping safer care: The Involvement Intention -
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Although suicides and attempted suicides that happen on inpatient psychiatric units present unique challenges to patient safety, most studies in the last 25 years have focused on patient populations outside the United States, which feature different rules, practices, resources, and cultures that may influence their findings. Many of these studies also included incidents that occurred off the unit, such as when patients absconded or shortly after discharge. In contrast, this study draws attention to suicide-related events in the United States, specifically events reported in Pennsylvania from 2016 to 2025 that only occurred on the inpatient psychiatric unit. This overlooked focus provides fresh insights into the demographics, methods, objects, locations, and temporal patterns involved with on-unit suicide-related events. For example, of the 143 event reports studied, 130 (91%) were attempted suicides and 13 (9%) were suicides, and 57% involved female patients; however, 85% of the completed suicides were by male patients. Neck compression was used in 57% of cases, and suicides by this method frequently involved ligature points. Events typically occurred in private areas, such as bedrooms and bathrooms, and most occurred within the first five days of admission, from October to March, during the evening shift (3 p.m. to 11:59 p.m.). These trends reveal opportunities for further study and strategies to prevent suicide-related events on inpatient psychiatric units. -
Content ArticlePatient Safety Learning posted an article in Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care
Sepsis is a time-critical emergency. Early detection and treatment are essential to preventing deaths and improving outcomes for people with sepsis and their families and carers. It is vital that sepsis continues to be addressed as a health system safety and quality priority through ongoing action. In Australia, recent analyses show the prevalence and impact of sepsis is significantly greater than previously estimated, with over 84,000 reported sepsis separations in Australian public hospitals in 2022-23. Developed as part of the Better Care Everywhere initiative, this hub supports clinicians and health service organisations to improve early detection, data quality and clinical care across the healthcare system. -
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The NHS in England is facing an exodus of minority ethnic managers who have suffered racism, exclusion and discrimination during their working lives, a report from the NHS Alliance has found. Almost four-fifths of managers from black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) backgrounds have experienced racism, exclusion and obstacles to progressing in their careers, according to a survey carried out by the NHS Alliance. The problem is so widespread that one in five say they will quit the NHS in the next three years, amid renewed concern the service is doing too little to eradicate ingrained racism. The NHS Alliance, which surveyed 950 BAME managers, said the findings are “further evidence of the corrosive and demoralising impact of racism in the NHS”. They risk a “haemorrhaging” of managers and senior leaders from BAME backgrounds, it warned. -
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NHS England has made efforts and has targeted funding towards improving A&E waiting times and patient flow through hospitals, but this growth in spending has not been matched with proportionate improvements for patients, a new report from the National Audit Office (NAO) has found. -
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AI is increasingly becoming part of how health care is delivered. This comes with both potential, for example to reduce administrative burden, and risks, such as widening inequalities. It also raises complex questions about how AI tools should be regulated, and challenges around how to assess, monitor and oversee its safety and effectiveness. Commissioned as the research partner to the MHRA's independent National Commission into the Regulation of AI in Healthcare, this report brings together findings from the Health Foundation's polling of public attitudes towards AI with new findings from a UK-wide public deliberative exercise exploring what the public thinks regulators should prioritise and what is needed to build and maintain public trust in AI regulation. The findings underscore the importance of public trust, safety and accountability in the regulation of AI. Overall, it found that participants largely support the use of AI in health care, but that support is conditional on strong safeguards where accuracy and human oversight are essential. The report presents the findings of the research, including the public’s awareness of and attitudes to AI use in health care, priorities for regulation and potential approaches, and principles for regulating AI. The final section sets out the implications of these findings for policy. -
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Samia Sukama from West Hertfordshire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust shares a poster used to support staff involved in an investigation. -
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Dementia is the biggest health and care issue facing our society today. Around one million people live with the condition in the UK and prevalence is set to rise to 1.4 million by 2040.[1] The focus of this year’s World Patient Safety Day is "Safe care for noncommunicable diseases” and highlights the need to reduce preventable harm for people living with long-term conditions by emphasising the importance of early diagnosis, coordinated care, a skilled workforce and meaningful involvement of people with lived experience. This is also reflected in the World Alzheimer’s Month campaign this September: "The earlier you know, the more you can do: A dementia diagnosis matters", which seeks to tackle the persistent stigma and discrimination surrounding dementia by shining a spotlight on the timely and important issue of early diagnosis. In this blog, Bella Smith, a Policy Officer at Alzheimer’s Society, reflects on what safe care means for people living with dementia. This blog is part of a series on noncommunicable diseases, in support of World Patient Safety Day 2026 (WPSD26). Earlier
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Safety cases are discussed widely in the literature, and have seen adoption within industry. Although steps have been made to increase their effectiveness, these have typically focused on the content of safety case arguments in isolation. However, such an approach overlooks a key question: who is making the argument for safety, and, more importantly, who are they arguing to? From a sociolinguistic perspective, argumentation is an element of social communication involving cooperation and persuasion between parties to gain mutual understanding. By understanding how people argue, it may be possible to suggest new and practical insights for improving safety cases, by understanding the people who create and interact with them. This paper applies a sociolinguistic perspective to safety cases to understand how argumentation is used. In doing so, two insights are learnt: the persuasiveness of the language used within safety case arguments is context-dependent, and safety cases are not just a product but a process by which discussions and arguments around safety are conducted. Implications for viewing safety cases in this way are explored, as well as future research directions. -
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At Patient Safety Learning we believe that sharing insights and learning is vital to improving outcomes and reducing harm. That's why we created the hub; providing a space for people to come together and share their experiences, resources and good practice examples. Dementia is an umbrella term for a number of diseases that affect the brain, with Alzheimer’s disease its most common cause. We have picked a range of resources and reflections about keeping people with dementia safe in health and care settings, and when considering medication choices.
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