Patient safety is the guiding principle of all who serve in the NHS – the first and most important lesson staff should learn is how to act safely.
Locally, we provide a number of opportunities to support education, training and development in areas such as human factors and appreciative inquiry, alongside tailored programmes for specific groups. As well as investing in local healthcare professionals and organisations to support them in ensuring the care they deliver is safe, this also supports the implementation of national initiatives.
NHS Patient Safety Strategy and Syllabus
A national Patient Safety Strategy was launched in July 2019 and sets out what the NHS will do to achieve its vision to continuously improve patient safety. Included within this is the development of the first ever system wide Patient Safety Syllabus, making education available to all staff.
This will include an e-learning programme for all staff in the foundations of Patient Safety. HEE is leading this development, with an aim for the programme to be available by April 2021. HEE will work with education providers to integrate this work within existing and new educational programme for NHS staff. More details can be found in the links below:
HEE Commission on Education and Training for Patient Safety
The commission was set up by HEE to focus on how education and training interventions can actively improve patient safety. Supported by Imperial College, the Commission’s report made a number of recommendations to HEE and the wider system.
Improving Safety through Education and Training 2016
In 2019, HEE outlined the wide-ranging initiatives led by HEE to improve patient safety through education and training. NHS service providers, in partnership with HEE local offices have, and will continue to, implement education, training and development initiatives to promote safe clinical practice across health and care services. Work is taking place across the strategic bodies to ensure awareness of patient safety issues is developed throughout the workforce.
Delivering Patient Safety Through Education, Training and Development 2019