Patient Safety Commissioner for England update (22 October 2022)

Summary

This article* is an update from Dr Henrietta Hughes, Patient Safety Commissioner for England.

Content

Today I attended the launch of the Care Quality Commission State of Care report. It does not shy away from the issues that patients are facing, with safety concerns from a health system in gridlock. The system needs to work effectively to face these challenges together.

The report came just a day after the heart breaking stories in ‘Reading the Signals’, the review of maternity and neonatal services in East Kent. It is distressing to read the harrowing accounts and my thoughts are with the parents and families of babies who were harmed.

The report mirrored the Independent Medicines and Medical Devices Safety Review that led to my new role, including poor behaviours and the danger of not listening and acting on patient voices. 

But in the few weeks since I have started as Patient Safety Commissioner I have heard about ways that organisations are listening and responding to patient feedback in real time. This has led to immediate improvements, partnership working and improved staff morale.

This needs to be the way that we work. Proactively, in true partnership with patients and reading the signals to identify possible harm and swiftly intervene.

#patientsafetycommissioner #cqcstateofcare #patientvoice #improvement #safety #patientsafety

This article was first published on LinkedIn.