Patients: Safety

(asked on 7th November 2014) - View Source

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what progress organisations which have participated in the Sign up to Safety campaign have made on fulfilling the pledges in that campaign; and if he will make a statement.


Answered by
Dan Poulter Portrait
Dan Poulter
This question was answered on 19th November 2014

The Sign up to Safety campaign was launched on 24 June 2014. Each organisation that has joined the campaign has committed to improving patient safety through the implementation of a Safety Improvement Plan. The Safety Improvement Plan builds on the pledges the organisation set out when joining. The pledges are expanded in more detail in the plan, which sets out what the organisation wants to achieve and by when. Each organisation is expected to demonstrate how they will measure the local impact of their aims over the next three years via a measurement section within their plans. They will then implement their aims over the next three years.

The Sign up to Safety campaign is being promoted by means of:

- a national campaign website;

- regional and national presentations at events across the country delivered by the Campaign Director, the Secretary of State and others;

- Twitter with over 1,500 followers;

- a blog by the Campaign Director;

- an online seminar programme (webinars);

- through partner organisations including NHS England, Care Quality Commission, Monitor, NHS Trust Development Authority, NHS Litigation Authority, Health Education England, and NHS Improving Quality;

- mini poster campaigns, such as the Safe Care Costs Less, and individual events, such as the launch of the Patient Briefing Video; and

- through participant websites and local events.

As at the end of October 2014, a total number of 136 organisations have agreed to participate in the Sign up to Safety campaign. Each participant organisation is expected to set out how they will contribute to the campaign’s three year objective via their Safety Improvement Plan – they are expected to quantify the expected impact of their actions on a reduction of avoidable harm and saving lives. The measurement and evaluation of the impact at a regional and national level will be led by NHS England working with NHS Improving Quality as part of the integrated measurement strategy for both the campaign and the Patient Safety Collaborative programme. This will include the National Reporting and Learning System, harms via the Safety Thermometer and mortality rates, case studies of individual organisations and patient record reviews.

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