Patient Safety Commissioner for England update (w/c 19 September 2022)

Summary

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

Content

I am honoured to start my role as the first Patient Safety Commissioner for England.

Patients’ voices need to be at the heart of the design and delivery of healthcare but there are many examples where patients have not been listened to leading to untold harm to themselves and their families.

I would like to pay tribute to the incredible courage, persistence and compassion of all those who have campaigned for many years and gave evidence to First Do No Harm.

I will work collaboratively with patients and others to challenge the healthcare system to make improvements:

• All patients must receive the information they need to make a choice about treatment with medicines and medical devices.
• All patients’ voices are heard.
• The system responds quickly to keep people safe.

This is a huge undertaking and builds on the work of many deeply committed people including patients, patient groups, professionals and organisations.

I look forward to meeting and hearing from patients and patient groups, learning from their experience and working with the system to make improvements.

With my small team we are setting up the office of the Patient Safety Commissioner.

Please get in touch here: [email protected]

*This article was first published on LinkedIn.