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This is the fifth and final of a short series of blogs in which we take a look back at our work in five areas of patient safety during 2021. In this blog we outline how we have been working this year to develop organisational standards for patient safety. Throughout our work, Patient Safety Learning seeks to harness the knowledge, insights, enthusiasm and commitment of health and social care organisations, professionals and patients for system-wide change and the reduction of avoidable harm. We believe patient safety is not just another priority; it is a core purpose of health and social care. Patient safety should not be negotiable.

This conference is for staff involved in managing concerns in NHS Scotland, including the promotion, delivery, and use of the Whistleblowing Standards. The Independent National Whistleblowing Office are supporting the event. It will explore the legislative requirements around whistleblowing and the benefits of effective management of concerns. The programme concludes with a focus on what a healthy speak up culture looks like and how that can be delivered. The day will be chaired by John Sturrock, KC, and include a keynote presentation from Rosemary Agnew, the Independent National Whistleblowing Officer. It also brings together expert speakers from NHS Scotland, Scottish Government, trade union and academia with expertise in speaking up, culture change, quality, safety and candour. The programme will consider the Whistleblowing Standards since their launch in April 2021, as they approach their anticipated 3-year review. It offers an opportunity to share good practice, support ongoing improvements and promote an effective Speak Up culture that works from the bedside to the boardroom. Programme Register

The aim of this webinar is to share, engage and discuss with clinicians, patient safety managers, patients and leaders the latest standards. There will be 2 sessions: 17.30: Session 1 – NatSSIPs 2: what it is and why it matters Welcome and introduction The CPOC perspective The Patient Safety Learning perspective Photo review of why NatSIPPs matters The patient perspective What is new in NatSIPPs 2? Resources to support Implementation: Checklists, infographics Q&A 18.30: Session 2 – NatSSIPs 2: implementation, practical insights and tips Our NatSIPPs 2 Workshop and how to consider a NatSSIPs gap analysis Team training for NatSIPPs 2 Q&A Register

This virtual masterclass will build confidence in compassionately engaging and involving families and loved ones to work within the requirements of PSIRF and the Complaints Standards Framework. But more than this, the masterclass will support staff to go beyond compliance to understand the issues and emotional component on a deeper level; to have real authentic engagement and involvement with patients and families. New frameworks such as PSIRF are now in place, but how do we not only comply with these, but go beyond compliance to have real authentic compassionate engagement and involvement with patients, families and indeed staff to make a real positive difference? Connecting new knowledge with emotions can really support long term learning, which is an important part of this masterclass. Knowing things may have gone wrong can feel a heavy burden and a complex emotional situation to be managing. Often, we avoid visiting difficult emotions in others, as well as ourselves, because we don’t feel confident or skilled, or we feel fearful of not doing it perfectly. This one-day masterclass will look at the new PSIRF and the Complaints Standards Framework and through real life content, bringing the human focus for the patients, loved ones, and indeed staff to the forefront. It will support staff to explore what compassionate engagement looks like, feels like, and how to communicate it authentically and meaningfully. In a supportive and relaxed environment, delegates will have the opportunity to gain in depth knowledge of the emotional component, relate to, analyse and realise the significance of and believe in their own abilities in creating practices that not only support the PSIRF but go beyond compliance to be working in a way that supports gaining an optimum outcome for patients, families and staff, in often a less than optimum situation. Key learning objectives: Feel, analyse, and explore the presence and absence of compassionate engagement within life, trauma, and a healthcare incident and how empathy is the gateway to compassion. Seeing perspectives and understanding emotional motivations and the emotional component recognising vulnerability in others and self. Seeing the bigger picture and having an enquiring mind to understand the story and how the ‘Funnel of Life’ can impact on our ability to engage. Build confidence in the positive impact of compassionate engagement and really being authentically interested in the emotional component to be able to create an optimum outcome in often a less than optimum situation. Explore and have a good grasp of how internal unconscious belief systems, can link through to the outcomes we achieve. We know what works with compassionate engagement, but why do we so often struggle? Explore and analyse biases, judgments, and how a lack of compassionate engagement not only has the potential to cause psychological harm, but can prevent optimum outcomes for the organisation. Realise the significance of authenticity rather than feeling fearful of not doing things perfectly. Examine where can we get emotional information from to support us, even if we are not aware we are doing it! Identify the importance of an enquiring mind and a hypothesis as we try and understand the story that we are aiming to compassionately engage with. Develop understanding of Safeguarded Personal Resolution (SPR ®) to formulate compassionate engagement under PSIRF and the Complaints Standards Framework. Develop awareness on personal wellbeing and resilience. Register hub members receive a 20% discount. Email info@pslhub.org for discount code.

The NHS Patient Safety Conference, in partnership with Patient Safety Learning, is a long-standing virtual and in-person event series that has welcomed over 1500 NHS professionals through its doors. In February 2021, further updates and changes were made to the NHS Patient Safety Strategy. The most significant strategy update is the new commitment to address patient safety inequalities, with a new objective added to the safety system strand of the strategy. This event series provides a timely platform to discuss these changes. Key event topics are run across 3 key pillars: Insight Adopt and promote fundamental safety measurement principles and use culture metrics to better understand how safe care is. Use new digital technologies to support learning from what does and does not go well, by replacing the National Reporting and Learning System with a new safety learning system. Introduce the Patient Safety Incident Response Framework to improve the response to an investigation of incidents and implement a new medical examiner system to scrutinise deaths. Improve the response to new and emerging risks, supported by the new National Patient Safety Alerts Committee Share an insight from litigation to prevent harm. Involvement Establish principles and expectations for the involvement of patients, families, carers, and other lay people in providing safer care. Create the first system-wide and consistent patient safety syllabus, training, and education framework for the NHS. Establish patient safety specialists to lead safety improvement across the system. Ensure people are equipped to learn from what goes well as well as to respond appropriately to things going wrong. Ensure the whole healthcare system is involved in the safety agenda. Improvement Deliver the National Patient Safety Improvement Programme, building on the existing focus on preventing avoidable deterioration and adopting and spreading safety interventions. Deliver the Maternity and Neonatal Safety Improvement Programme to support a reduction in stillbirth, neonatal and maternal death, and neonatal asphyxia brain injury by 50% by 2025. Develop the Medicines Safety Improvement Programme to increase the safety of those areas of medication use currently considered the highest risk. Deliver a Mental Health Safety Improvement Programme to tackle priority areas, including restrictive practice and sexual safety. Work with partners across the NHS to support safety improvement in priority areas such as the safety of older people, the safety of those with learning disabilities and the continuing threat of antimicrobial resistance. Work to ensure research and innovation support safety improvement. All organisations are committed to patient safety, but how do leaders ensure that they’re doing all they can to deliver safe and effective care? Join Dr Sanjiv Sharma, Executive Medical Director at Great Ormand Street Hospital for Children, and Helen Hughes, Chief Executive of Patient Safety Learning for a presentation at 9.05am. Dr Sharma will outline their ambitious patient safety transformation journey, how they are designing and delivering an innovative safety systems approach. Embedding Patient Safety Learning’s new standards for patient safety, hear how GOSH’s self assessment has informed the development of prioritised action plans, strengthened governance and leadership engagement and cross organisation collaboration. Helen Hughes, Chief Executive of Patient Safety Learning, will outline why a standards based approach to patient safety is needed and the benefits it can bring. Register

This course is suitable for anybody who deals with complaints as part of their job role, or anybody who may have to handle a complaint. This includes dedicated complaints teams & customer support teams and managers. The programme includes a section on handling complaints regarding Covid-19 - understanding the standards of care by which the NHS should be judged in a pandemic. A highly interactive and effective workshop to improve confidence and consistency in handling complaints. A simple model to facilitate effective responses will be shared and delegates will have the opportunity to practise the use of our unique AERO approach. For further information and to book your place visit https://www.healthcareconferencesuk.co.uk/conferences-masterclasses/complaints-resolution-and-mediation or email kerry@hc-uk.org.uk. hub members receive a 20% discount. Email info@pslhub.org for discount code.