Patient Safety

Dorset HealthCare NHS University Foundation Trust aims to provide services in which service users feel safe when receiving care.

Patient Safety is key in: the design and delivery care; early detection and reporting of any patient safety concerns and investigation and sharing of learning if a patient safety occurs.

The Trust Patient Safety priorities are agreed by the Trust Board and progress on these priorities is reported in the Trust Quality Account.

Ongoing monitoring of patient safety is reported to the Board in the monthly Dashboard and Quality report.

Incident reporting

The Trust expects from all staff the swift and accurate reporting of adverse incidents that may occur within the Trust.  

In the interest of patient and staff safety, openness and a constructive discussion of care is actively encouraged.

All patient safety incidents are reported to the National Reporting and Learning System (NRLS) and the Care Quality Commission in line with National Guidance. This data is then analysed to identify potential hazards, risks and opportunities to improve the safety of patient care.

Reports of data from the NRLS are available at the following link

http://www.nrls.npsa.nhs.uk/patient-safety-data/

Patient Safety Executive Walkabouts

The Trust has an annual programme of Patient Safety Executive Walkabouts.

The National Patient Safety First campaign provides guidance for organisations in respect of Patient Safety Walkabouts recognising that Leadership is essential to promoting a safety orientated culture.  The programme promotes a culture where senior leaders not only have to 'talk the talk' but to also 'walk the walk'.

Patient Safety Walkabouts ensure that executives are informed first hand regarding the safety concerns of frontline staff and that they visibly demonstrate this commitment in listening to and supporting staff when issues are raised.

Non Executive Directors and Executive or Associate Directors undertake team based visits in pairs.  An annual programme is drawn up and except in extenuating circumstances walkabouts will not be cancelled by the Executive Team.  If an executive can no longer attend they will request that other executives cover the visit.

A write up of the visit is provided to the Director of Quality within 2 weeks of the visit who will:

• Ensure that feedback and observations from the visits are reported to the relevant Operational Director/Chief Operating Office and the Quality, Clinical Governance and risk subcommittee.

• Ensure that any areas of good practice or significant concerns are reflected in the Board Quality report.

• Monitor progress on all actions to ensure that they are fully implemented