Rachael Grimaldi
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As World Patient Safety Day approaches on 17 September, with its focus on safe care for every newborn and every child, it's a stark reminder of how communication barriers in healthcare can exacerbate risks and inequalities. In my view, exclusive communication—where language, literacy or accessibility needs are overlooked—poses a significant threat to patient safety, particularly for vulnerable children and their families. Embracing inclusive communication isn't just an ethical imperative; it's a practical pathway to safer outcomes. Drawing from years of observing these disparities, I believe we need to confront the scale of this challenge head-on and commit to dismantling it through systemic changes and supportive tools. This blog is part of our World Patient Safety Day 2025 series - Safe care for every newborn and every child. -
Content ArticleHaving read an article about a critically ill intensive care patient terrified when they couldn’t understand what the healthcare team were saying through their personal protective equipment (PPE), Rachael Grimaldi, an NHS anaesthetist, was inspired to create a simple communication tool: CARDMEDICTM. Update from Rachael: Since writing this blog, we have been accepted onto The Hill Accelerator Program, run by Oxford University, Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Oxford Brookes University. We have also been selected to be a part of the Healthcare UK Digital Health Offer for Export for 2020. Healthcare UK is a joint initiative of The Department for International Trade (DIT), The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and NHS England, which promotes the UK healthcare sector to overseas markets. We now have over 30,000 users in over 100 countries, alongside 11,500 app downloads. Version 2 of the app is out now, with a 'free notes' section so the patient and healthcare staff can communicate directly. Text can either be dictated or typed into the notes box, the language auto-detected and then translated into one of 10 languages available and read aloud to the patient if necessary. We are working on enhancing accessibility through the addition of sign language videos and images / illustrations / makaton signs. An independent academic evaluation by University of Brighton using simulated patients demonstrated 25% increased confidence in und
