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NHS Improvement is inviting organisations to participate in a consultation on a newly proposed patient safety strategy. Have your say here.

The strategy sets out the long-term plans for patient safety and includes a number of new proposals alongside existing measures such as the creation of the National Patient Safety Alerts Committee.

The strategy aims to:

• be world leading at drawing insight from multiple sources of patient safety information
• give staff at all levels the skills and support they need to help improve patient safety, so they can be the infrastructure for safety improvement, working with patients and partner organisations
• decrease harm in key areas by 50% by 2023/24 and beyond through specific patient safety initiatives.

Dr Aidan Fowler, National Director of Patient Safety said:

‘’It is a testament to the professionalism of frontline staff that in the clear majority of cases, patients receive safe care. The NHS is leading the way for patient safety, but we must not be complacent. Our ambition as part of the Long-Term Plan is for an increased focus on safety improvement as this is what patients deserve.

Key to this will be to develop a ‘just culture’ across the NHS, where staff are supported to be open and transparent about what is going on without fear of punishment for errors that are beyond their control. Continuous learning and improvement must be at the heart of protecting patients from avoidable harm.’’

This proposal will be part of an NHS-Wide strategy and will be used in conjunction with the NHS 10-year plan.

The consultation will be open for comments until 15 February 2019.