Patient Safety Learning 

Patient Safety Learning is a charity and independent voice for improving patient safety. The drive to create Patient Safety Learning has been born from the frustration of seeing the same themes emerge time and time again in healthcare systems around the world.

Despite an increase in patient safety improvement projects in local organisations, there is a lack of a systematic approach to sharing knowledge and information about what patient safety initiatives and solutions work.

Patient Safety Learning harnesses the knowledge, enthusiasm and commitment of healthcare organisations, professionals and patients for system-wide change.

the hub: improving shared learning for patient safety 

 the hub is a platform for patient safety. It offers a powerful combination of tools, resources, stories, ideas, case studies and good practice to anyone who wants to make care safer for patients. Its communities of interest give people a place to discuss patient safety concerns and how to address them. Membership is free – you can register here.

We officially launched the hub on 2 October 2019 at our annual conference. To date, the hub has received 536,452 visits and had over 1 million page views. It has over 3,277 members from 79 countries and 1,052 organisations, and offers over 7.000 knowledge resources. the hub has been viewed by people from 203 countries.

Although we are delighted with these numbers and continued growth of the hub, we are most proud of the relationships the hub is facilitating and the good work that is happening as a result.

We created the hub after identifying shared learning as one of the six evidence-based foundations of safer care. Designed with input from patient safety professionals, clinicians and patients, the hub offers a powerful combination of tools, resources, stories, ideas, case studies and good practice to anyone who wants to make care safer for patients. Its communities of interest give people a place to discuss patient safety concerns and how to address them.

Here are some of the ways we’ve seen the hub being used to improve patient safety:

• Sharing successes to improve patient safety: We are delighted to see on the hub that trusts are sharing new initiatives and good practices they have successfully implemented. Homerton University Hospital NHS Trust has shared innovative solutions that improve patient safety, and these have been picked up by other patient safety leads who want to try them in their own organisations. A blog series about a ‘second victim’ support initiative at Chase Farm Hospital has led to another hospital initiating a conversation with Chase Farm so they could create something similar.
• Campaigning for safer care: Using member feedback and evidence, the hub is helping us to highlight patient safety issues and promote safer care. In February, we connected with the Campaign Against Painful Hysteroscopy patient group and began a new Community discussion on the hub titled ‘Painful hysteroscopy’. We have seen a significant amount of interest in this issue, with many patients sharing their experiences. Another issue we’ve been highlighting on the hub is the lack of support for thousands of patients with ‘Long COVID’ (patients with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 who continue to struggle with prolonged, debilitating and sometimes severe symptoms months later). We are using the hub as a forum for people living with Long COVID to share their stories and experiences, such as intensive care doctor Jake Suett, who wrote a blog about his own experience of suspected Long COVID. His blog has been the hub’s most visited page yet, with over 8,000 views.
• Highlighting front-line staff concerns: One of the most popular types of content on the hub has been the candid stories from frontline staff, often posted anonymously. One example is a theatre nurse’s story of speaking up when a surgeon dropped an instrument, washed it and immediately re-used it. We highlighted this specific incident of unsafe care – along with the wider safety concerns it raises around private practice – with the CQC, NHS England and NHS Improvement, NMC, GMC and National Guardian for the NHS, calling for action be taken.

Every voice is important. If you’re a patient, clinician, researcher, student, patient safety professional… whoever you are, you’ll have some experience of patient safety. Please work with us to help keep patients safe by sharing your story or insights on the hub.

If you’re not already registered, you can register for free. If you’re already a member of the hub, you can share your content or join a Community discussion. We would love for your voice to be a part of our growing network, as we speak up, take action and work together towards the patient-safe future.

We would love to have you join us as we continue to develop the hub. Please send us your ideas and feedback to: feedback@PSLhub.org.