How the hub is being used to improve patient safety

Here are just some of the ways Patient Safety Learning and our members are using the hub to improve patient safety:

Sharing ideas to improve patient safety

Members are sharing on the hub new initiatives and good practice they have implemented. Examples include:

• Insights from a reducing falls project at the University Hospital Southampton
• Implementation of bedside electronic transfusion checks at Barts Health Trust
• Tackling antibiotic underdosing: Interview with Ruth Dando, Head of Nursing for Theatres, Critical Care and Anaesthetics at BHRUHT

Establishing networks of shared interest

Healthcare professionals working on different aspects of patient safety can find themselves working in isolation, facing barriers to connecting with people doing similar roles in other organisations. the hub is being used as a space to make connections and collaborate to improve the way patient safety policy is implemented across the UK.

Currently the hub supports five informal voluntary networks:

• Patient Safety Management Network—this is an innovative network for patient safety managers and everyone working in patient safety. In just over two years this has grown to now over 1900 members from more than 650 different organisations. 
• National NatSSIPs Network—a group of over 1000 healthcare professionals aiming to reduce the number of patient safety incidents related to invasive procedures. 
• Patient Safety Education Network—a peer network for those in patient safety education and training roles now over 600 members.
• Patient Safety Partners Network—a group for Patient Safety Partners, paid and voluntary roles within NHS organisations aimed at improving patient safety, with almost 100 members. 
• Patient Safety Paediatric Leaders Network—an invited network for anyone who is a strategic-level decision maker in a specialist children’s hospital or unit with a leadership responsibility for patient safety and/or quality in the UK. 
• VTE Specialists Network—an invited network for anyone in the UK who is a VTE specialist.

You can join by signing up to the hub today. When putting in your details, please tick the relevant Network in the ‘Join a private group’ section. If you are already a member of the hub, please email [email protected]. 

Campaigning for safer care

the hub is helping its members to highlight patient safety issues and promote safer care. 

• Working with the Campaign Against Painful Hysteroscopy patient group, we began a Community discussion on the hub in February 2020 about ‘Painful hysteroscopy’. We have seen a significant amount of interest in this issue, with many patients sharing their experiences, and have used these to raise awareness of the problem in various forums, including most recently a conference hosted by the Association of Anaesthetists.
• Sling the Mesh, a campaign group for women injured by pelvic mesh surgery, is using the hub to raise patient safety issues. Sling the Mesh founder Kath Sansom has written a number of blogs about how the health service is failing to take women’s concerns seriously, offer effective treatment and redress for injured patients, or learn from the regulatory mistakes made with mesh devices.
• For healthcare to be safe it needs to be accessible. But what does this look like for people with ME (myalgic encephalomyelitis) and Long Covid? A blog from #ThereForME explored the barriers that impact access to NHS care for people with ME and Long Covid, and encouraged the patient community to share their experiences.

Highlighting frontline staff concerns

Frontline healthcare professionals are currently facing huge pressures in their work, which is compromising both staff and patient safety. the hub is providing a forum for healthcare professionals to share their concerns about the issues they face every day.

• Our Speaking up for patient safety series looks at how people who speak up in healthcare are treated by organisations, leaders and regulators, and how this acts as a barrier to staff raising patient safety concerns. In each interview, Peter and Patient Safety Learning’s Chief Executive Helen Hughes talk to someone who has spoken up about patient safety in healthcare, or who works to help staff raise concerns.
• Staff fatigue in healthcare is a growing concern as demand for services grows and more and more professionals leave the workforce. Working with the Health Services Safety Investigations Body (HSSIB), we have published a number of blogs and interviews to help generate conversation about the issue of fatigue and how it can be tackled.
• Corridor care is increasingly being used in the NHS as demand for emergency care grows and hospital departments struggle with patient numbers. In a series of blogs for the hub, healthcare professionals share some of the key patient safety issues they are experiencing surrounding corridor care.

Collaborative working

It is clear that a variety of voices, experiences and expertise is hugely beneficial when it comes to making progress in patient safety. At Patient Safety Learning we continue to proactively seek opportunities to collaborate with others, share individual and collective insights through the hub, and influence key stakeholders and policies.

• We worked with the Patient Safety Group (PSG) of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh (RCSEd) to draw up their top tips for patient safety in surgery for surgeons and surgical trainees. 
• FAQs on the Duty of Candour were produced by the Patient Safety Management Network in collaboration with experts from the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and NHS Resolution, and address the most pressing concerns about Duty of Candour. 
• The Patient Safety Partner (PSP) role was introduced in 2022 by NHS England as part of its Framework for involving patients in patient safety and National Patient Safety Strategy. the hub brings together a toolkit of resources, designed to share insights and information about the Patient Safety Partner role.