Trust commitment to involving patients in patient safety
We are very proud that Patient Safety Partners (PSPs) have joined our Trust, their involvement in the development of safer services is a priority for us. The introduction of the PSPs is the start of a journey to significantly change the way we approach patient and family involvement – we are committed to openness and transparency between staff and patients.
Capturing and listening to our PSPs’ perspectives in organisational safety offers us the opportunity to strengthen our governance and management processes associated with patient safety. With good leadership, that is not tokenistic but values and incorporates the perspectives of our partners, we will ensure that safety improvement is a continuing and evolving process that is meaningful for all involved.
The integration of PSPs has already commenced, and they are providing vital insight in the design of safer healthcare at a variety of levels within our organisation, including membership at the Quality and Safety Committee. We see the partners as an integral part of our safety governance, which includes participating in oversight and scrutiny, to support compliance monitoring and how patient safety issues should be addressed. They provide constructive challenge to ensure learning and change, they will be a key part of the continuing development and implementation of safety strategy and policy. The PSPs help us to ensure that any committee/group of which they are a member considers and prioritises the patient, carer and family perspective and champions a diversity of views.
To ensure our partners are as successful as possible, we have developed a local framework that identifies how the Trust will support and develop both the role and the individuals who undertake it.
As Senior Responsible officer (SRO) for The Patient Safety Incident Response Framework (PSIRF), I look forward to providing engagement opportunities with our Partners.
Andy Proctor (Director of Governance)
