The UK: your partner for global healthcare solutions – Improving the quality and safety of patient care

Source:  Department of Health

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Date of publication:  March 2016

Publication type:  Brochure

In a nutshell:  In 2014 the Commonwealth Fund named the NHS as the number one health service for safe care amongst the 11 developed nations studied. The NHS is aiming for a future where avoidable harm is prevented, where 100% of patients achieve the shortest, most uneventful hospital admissions, and where everyone achieves the best possible outcome.

This publication outlines some of the initiatives the UK is currently pursuing, and the organisations which are leading the way in standards of safety. The different sections also provide information on the partners who can best help you achieve your goal of safer, better healthcare.

Length of publication:  15 pages

Infection prevention and control: lessons from acute care in England

Source:  The Health Foundation

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Date of publication:  November 2015

Publication type:  Report

In a nutshell:  This learning report is based on the findings of a large research study that identified and consolidated published evidence about infection prevention and control initiatives. The researchers synthesised this with findings from qualitative case studies in two large NHS hospitals, including the perspectives of service users. The report considers what has been learned from the infection prevention and control work carried out over the last 15 years in hospitals in England. It looks at the lessons learned and outlines future directions for effective infection prevention and control.

Length of publication:  25 pages

A realist analysis of hospital patient safety in Wales: applied learning for alternative contexts from a multisite case study

Source:  Health Services and Delivery Research 3/40

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Date of publication: August 2015

Publication type:  Journal article

In a nutshell:  This study was designed to address gaps in conceptual, methodological and empirical knowledge about the influence of context on the local implementation of patient safety programmes.  The findings show how local implementation of patient safety interventions are impacted and modified by particular aspects of context.  Heightened awareness of the influence of context on the local implementation of patient safety programmes is required to inform the design of such interventions and to ensure their effective implementation and operationalisation in the day-to-day practice of health-care teams.

Length of Publication:  242 pages

Enacting corporate governance of health care safety and quality: a dramaturgy of hospital boards in England

Source:  Sociology of Health & Illness [Epub ahead of print]

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Date of publication: August 2015

Publication type:  Journal article

In a nutshell: This article draws on qualitative data from open non-participant observation of four NHS hospital Foundation Trust boards in England. The authors found important differences between case study sites in the performative dimensions of processing and interpretation of infection control data. They provide details of the practices associated with these differences and consider their implications.

Length of Publication:  1 web page

GMC publishes reports on patient safety and bullying

Source:  NHS Employers

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Date of publication: December 2014

Publication type:  News item

In a nutshell: The General Medical Council (GMC) has published two reports on patient safety and bullying. The reports discuss issues raised in the 2014 national training survey. The Concerns about patient safety report revealed that local reporting systems within local education providers (LEPs) are mainly effective. There were some concerns about the lack of information given on how to raise concerns, who to report to and a lack of confidence in the local systems for reporting concerns. The report provides a number of case studies describing how these issues are investigated and resolved.

Length of Publication:  1 web page

Learning from preventable deaths: exploring case record reviewers’ narratives using change analysis

Source: Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine 107/9 pp. 365-75.

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Date of publication:  September 2014

Publication type:  Journal article

In a nutshell: The authors set out to determine if applying change analysis to the narrative reports made by reviewers of hospital deaths in acute NHS Trusts in 2009 increases the utility of this information in the systematic analysis of patient harm. The change analysis approach enabled explicit characterisation of multiple problems in care, both across the admission and also at the boundary between primary and secondary care, and illuminated how these problems accumulate to cause harm. The method was straightforward to apply to multiple records and achieved good inter-rater reliability. Analysis of case narratives using change analysis provided a richer picture of healthcare-related harm than the traditional approach.

Length of Publication:  11 pages

Empowerment or rhetoric? Investigating the role of NHS Foundation Trust governors in the governance of patient safety

Source:  Health Policy [Epub ahead of print]

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Date of publication:  June 2013

Publication type:  Journal article

In a nutshell: The authors looked at the ways that NHS Foundation Trusts achieve inclusive governance by involving local communities and analysed this by studying lay governor involvement in the formal governance structures to improve patient safety. Interviews were conducted and observations of meetings and documentary analysis were carried out at a case study site. A national survey and follow up telephone interviews were conducted with the Foundation Trusts. Findings from the survey showed some involvement of governors in the governance of patient safety. The study revealed a lack of inclusivity by Foundation Trusts of lay governors in patient safety governance and it is suggested that action is needed to empower governors to undertake their statutory duties more effectively.

Length of Publication:  Unknown

Some important notes:  Please contact your local NHS Library for the full text of the article. Follow this link to find your local NHS Library.

A wake up call – lessons from the first major improvement programme

Source: The Health Foundation

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Date of publication: 4 February 2011

Publication type: News item

In a nutshell: The Health Foundation looks at their ‘Safer Patient Initiative’,  evaluating the lessons learned from it.  It also looks at the success achieved on ward level, and raising awareness of these issues across the UK.  However, more lessons are to be learned if this is to have an impact at organisation level, and this article highlights some of the ways to achieve this.

Length of publication: 1 webpage