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The Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) have developed this toolkit to disseminate learning highlighted from acute kidney injury (AKI) case notes reviews, part of the RCGP AKI Quality Improvement project. Working with GP practices, they have put together resources, alongside national Think Kidneys guidance, to support the implementation of quality improvement methods into routine clinical practice.

Primary care services provide an entry point into the health system which directly impact's people well-being and their use of other health care resources. Patient safety has been recognised as an issue of global importance for the past 10 years. Unsafe primary and ambulatory care results in greater morbidity, higher healthcare usage and economic costs. According to data from World Health Organisation (WHO), the risk of a patient dying from preventable medical accident while receiving health care is 1 in 300, which is much higher than risk of dying while travelling in an airplane. Unsafe medication practices and inaccurate and delayed diagnosis are the most common causes of patient harm which affects millions of patients globally. However, majority of the work has been focussed on hospital care and there is very less understanding of what can be done to improve patient safety in primary care. Provision of safe primary care is priority as every day millions of people use primary care services across the world. This paper, published in The Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care, focuses on various aspects of patient safety, especially in the primary care settings and also provides some potential solutions in order to reduce patient harm as much as possible. Some important challenges regarding patient safety in India are also highlighted.

The assessment of patients who are unwell with COVID-19 or other causes presents a significant challenge for GPs and clinicians working in primary care. The Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) and the AHSN Network held a joint webinar looking at the role of oximetry and other physiology in that assessment on Wednesday 29 April 2020. Watch the webinar here to find out more. 

To meet the challenge of improving the effectiveness and efficiency of the services GPs and their teams offer patients , a quality improvement approach is vital. This guide by the Royal College of General Practitioners, is available as a booklet or 'one pagers' on key tools – demonstrate accessible and workable interventions at practice level. The potential improvements that can be made using this guide are a significant step towards implementing improvement science.

Time to Change is a growing social movement working to change the way we all think and act about mental health problems. They have five simple steps to encourage people to ask questions and to open up about mental health. They also provide sources of help and support.

Patient Participation Groups (PPGs) are generally made up of a group of volunteer patients, the practice manager and one or more of the GPs from a practice. PPGs meet on a regular basis to discuss the services on offer, and how improvements can be made for the benefit of patients and the practice. The Patients Association has produced this set of videos and resources for PPGs, including: information on why GP practices and Primary Care Networks need patient groups step-by-step guide to establishing a GP patient group reasons to have a patient group and what’s in it for the GP practice and patients effectively working together in partnership recruitment, increasing diversity and communicating with the wider patient population.

This toolkit aims to help GP practices set up and run effective Patient Participation Groups (PPGs). It includes resources to help set up and develop PPGs, as well as to help PPGs think creatively about patient involvement. The toolkit covers:Guide to setting up a PPGVirtual groupsIncreasing membershipWhat can Healthwatch do to help?