This is the first of a short series of blogs in which we take a look back at our work in five areas of patient safety during 2021. This blog explores how the hub has encouraged collaboration, connection and the sharing of patient safety solutions.
Through our work, Patient Safety Learning seeks to harness the knowledge, insights, enthusiasm and commitment of health and social care organisations, professionals and patients for system-wide change and the reduction of avoidable harm. We believe patient safety is not just another priority; it is a core purpose of health and social care. Patient safety should not be negotiable.
the hub is our award-winning platform to share learning for patient safety. It offers a powerful combination of tools, resources, stories, ideas, case studies and good practice to anyone who wants to make care safer for patients.
the hub has continued to grow this year as a repository of patient safety research and good practice, while also providing a community for people who share our vision of a world where patients are free from avoidable harm. Since its launch, the hub has had over 659,000 pageviews and 298,000 visits, with 218,00 unique site visits from 201 different countries. We now have members from 830 organisations across 65 different countries.
Over the last 12 months the hub’s membership has grown by 76% and we have had over 350,000 page views. Our members and the hub team have continued to add valuable tools, research and resources across a wide range of topics, increasing our content by 55% this year - there are now nearly 5,000 Learn articles for you to search by category, tag and author.
Members of the hub have continued to share patient safety good practice, personal experiences and safety concerns, with some examples from this year including:
- Sarah de Malplaquet, Chief Executive and Founder of the Kit Tarka Foundation, highlighting the serious patient safety threat posed by neonatal herpes.
- An anonymous blog sharing one family’s story about the inappropriate prescription of antipsychotic medication prescriptions for people living with dementia.
- Retired Occupational Health Doctor Clare Rayner drawing on personal experience to illustrate the impact delayed surgery can have on a patient.
- Dr Rowan Wathes, Associate Director of the UK Parkinson’s Excellence Network at Parkinson’s UK, sharing 4 key actions for staff to help keep patients with Parkinson’s safe in hospital.
There have also continued to be active discussions in the hub communities, in particular on women’s health issues including painful hysteroscopy and pain during IUD fitting, the former having been viewed over 35,000 times.
This year we launched the hosting of two private online communities for healthcare professionals in specific areas of patient safety: the National Safety Standards for Invasive Procedures (NatSSIP) Network which has over 100 members, and the Patient Safety Management Network which now has a membership of over 200 and hosts a popular weekly drop in for members. Through the hub, we are able to provide the means by which these groups can independently come together in a collaborative environment to discuss patient safety challenges and share solutions, learning and good practice.
Charlotte Cooper, Senior Quality Manager at NHS South East London CCG, said:
"The Patient Safety Management Network has been a breath of fresh air - hearing the innovative work happening across the UK and thinking of how we can implement and share within our own areas is incredibly exciting. It’s also been a great place to discuss issues, with many people already experiencing them and being able to offer support and help. If you have an issue, no doubt someone in the network will have had the same and can share the learning!
The network has opened the relationship between Trust/Provider and Commissioner and allowed for a more meaningful non-judgmental space. Being fairly new to post, this network has helped me to connect with others and sparked great conversations, leading to new ideas around how we share learning and great practice across NHS South East London."
You can read more about the Patient Safety Management Network in this blog by its co-founder, Claire Cox, where she describes how she set up the network and how it is equipping patient safety managers with practical tools to make their hospitals safer.
If you’re not already a member of the hub, you can sign up for free and join our growing patient safety community. Find out more about how you can use the hub by watching our practical guide.
