Patient Safety

Together, we can reduce preventable harm, strengthen safety protocols, and build a culture where every patient receives the safest, highest-quality care possible.

The safety of patients is a critical thread running throughout all of our programmes of work, and it is a core focus for specific patient safety programmes.

Our ambition is to support the delivery of the NHS Patient Safety Strategy and its vision to continuously improve patient safety across the NHS by seeking to increase the adoption and spread of innovation across health and care systems.

Health innovation networks support safety programmes to reduce harm, save lives and save money through the avoidance of costs related to harm.

In the last five years, our work in patient safety has contributed to:

• 2,605 lives saved in maternity.
• £536m cases of cerebral palsy avoided, with £536m costs avoided in long-term care.
• 884 lives saved as a result of reducing high-dose opioids, halving the risks of death for 13,334 pain sufferers.
• 129 potentially life-saving interventions triggered through Martha’s Rule (in 143 sites.

The Health Innovation Network has released an update to its patient safety plan, which reflects progress made across focus areas, including managing deterioration in care homes; maternity and neonatal health; medicines safety; mental health; and system safety.

Read the full report “Patient safety in partnership. Our plan for a safer future 2019-2015: Progress report”.

Patient Safety Collaboratives

Patient Safety Collaboratives (PSCs), are funded and nationally coordinated by NHS England and hosted locally by regional health innovation networks.

PSCs identify and roll out safer care initiatives within the NHS and industry, ensuring these are shared throughout the health and care system. The PSC teams are experts in supporting quality improvement projects using the Institute of Healthcare Improvement (IHI) model for improvement. Download the PSC quality improvement resource pack to find out more.

They also deliver the National Patient Safety Improvement Programmes (NatPatSIP),a key part of the NHS Patient Safety Strategy, collectively forming the largest safety initiative in the history of the NHS.

Contact your local health innovation network patient safety team to access support or more information on the safety programmes.

Our national adoption and spread programmes

Ongoing national programmes

Patient Safety

Patient Safety Incident Response Framework

The framework sets out a new approach for NHS organisations to respond to patient safety incidents and ensure compassionate engagement with those affected.

Managing Deterioration

Martha’s rule

Supporting organisations to implement ‘Martha’s Rule’, enhancing the safety of care for deteriorating patients.

Patient Safety

National Patient Safety Improvement Programme

Supporting NHS organisations to adopt safety interventions and strategies, learn from excellence, and continually improve.

Mental Health

Mental health safety

Supporting healthcare professionals working with mental health and learning disability inpatients to reduce restrictive practice

Medicines/Polypharmacy

Medicines safety

Helping people with learning disability who have behaviour that challenges to avoid harm from psychotropic medicines

Maternity and Neonatal

Maternity safety

Supporting maternity and neonatal professionals to improve the optimisation and stabilisaton of pre-term infants and in the early recognition and management deterioration in women and babies.

Previous national programmes

Managing Deterioration

Managing adult deterioration in care homes

Supporting care home staff to identify and act on the early soft signs of deterioration in residents. Also to create safe and reliable pathways across health and social care.

Patient Safety

System safety – Patient Safety Incident Response Framework

The National Patient Safety programme’s System Safety workstream aims to create optimal conditions for patient safety improvement across health and integrated care systems.

Medicines/Polypharmacy

Polypharmacy

Supporting healthcare professionals to identify patients at potential risk and facilitate better conversations about medicines

Medicines/Polypharmacy

Using software to prevent hazardous prescribing

Prescribing errors in general practice are an expensive, preventable cause of safety incidents, illness, hospitalisations and even deaths. The PINCER intervention is led by primary care pharmacists and pharmacy technicians.

Medicines/Polypharmacy

TCAM

The Transfers of Care Around Medicine (TCAM) project helped to identify patients that need extra support with their medicines when discharged from hospital.

Maternity and Neonatal

Prevention of cerebral palsy in pre-term labour

Premature birth is the main cause of brain injury and cerebral palsy in babies. Evidence shows that babies can be protected from brain injury by giving magnesium sulfate to women who are at risk of premature birth.

Wound Care

Transforming Wound Care

Improving care for patients with lower limb wounds

Wound Care

National Wound Care Strategy Programme

Improving wound care for people with leg and foot ulcers, surgical wounds and pressure ulcers

Local and regional programmes from across the networks

In addition to our national portfolio, there are local programmes across the Network prioritising patient safety 

Find examples of our local and regional work in our Case Studies.

Or contact your local health innovation network to learn more about patient safety projects and innovations in your area.