Pharmacist-led repeat prescription management

"Walsall Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) implemented a pharmacist-led repeat prescription management service (RPMS). The service was aimed at reducing medicines wastage, minimising possible harm from medicines and improving the quality of repeat prescribing."

Pharmacist-led repeat prescription management: ensuring appropriate prescribing and reducing wastage
Walsall Clinical Commissioning Group
QIPP Case Study
November 2014

Read more here.

Developing person-centred analysis of harm in a paediatric hospital

"At Great Ormond Street Hospital, we developed and tested a tool specifically designed for patients and families to report harm, with the aim of raising awareness and opportunities for staff to continually improve and provide safe care."

Developing person-centred analysis of harm in a paediatric hospital: a quality improvement report
P Lachman, L Linkson, T Evans, H Clausen, D Hothi
BMJ Quality and Safety 2015;24:337-344 doi:10.1136/bmjqs-2014-003795

Read more here.

The frequency of diagnostic errors in outpatient care

"Our population-based estimate suggests that diagnostic errors affect at least 1 in 20 US adults. This foundational evidence should encourage policymakers, healthcare organisations and researchers to start measuring and reducing diagnostic errors."

The frequency of diagnostic errors in outpatient care: estimations from three large observational studies involving US adult populations
H Singh, AND Meyer, EJ Thomas
BMJ Quality and Safety, 2014; 23: 727–731.

Read more here.

Prevalence and severity of patient harm detected by the Paediatric Trigger Tool

"There is a significant, measurable level of harm experienced by children admitted to hospitals in the UK. While most of this harm is temporary, some of it is serious. The UKPTT offers organisations the means to measure and examine the adverse events occurring in their hospital in order to reduce harm."

Prevalence and severity of patient harm in a sample of UK-hospitalised children detected by the Paediatric Trigger Tool
SM Chapman, J Fitzsimons, N Davey, P Lachman
BMJ Open, 2014; 4: e005066

Read more here.

NICE infection prevention and control quality standard

"The quality standard for infection prevention and control specifies that services should be commissioned from and coordinated across all relevant agencies. A person-centred, integrated approach that promotes multi-agency working is fundamental to delivering high-quality care and preventing and controlling infection."

Quality standard: infection prevention and control (QS61)
NICE
April 2014

Read more here.

A framework for measuring and monitoring safety

"The measurement of past harm will always be a cornerstone to understanding safety. Measures need to be specific and tracked over time to help to assess whether care in a particular area, and overall, is becoming safer."

A framework for measuring and monitoring safety: A practical guide to using a new framework for measuring and monitoring safety in the NHS

The Health Foundation

April 2014

Read more here.

Reducing harm to patients

"This briefing follows a March 2014 speech by the Secretary of State for Health at Virginia Mason Medical Center in Seattle. In his speech, Jeremy Hunt MP set out a new ambition to reduce avoidable harm to patients in the NHS."

Briefing: Reducing harm to patients
The Health Foundation
March 2014

Read more here.

Statutory duty of candour for health and adult social care providers

"The duty of candour will require all health and adult social care providers registered with CQC to be open with people when things go wrong. The regulations would impose a specific and detailed duty of candour on all providers where any harm to a service user from their care or treatment is above a certain harm-threshold."

Open consultation: Statutory duty of candour for health and adult social care providers
Department of Health
March 2014

Read more and respond to the consultation here.

Increasing reporting rates and reducing harm

"Actively developing a transparent and positive safety culture at the unit level can improve medication safety."

Increasing medication error reporting rates while reducing harm through simultaneous cultural and system-level interventions in an intensive care unit
KM Abstoss, BE Shaw, TA Owens, JL Juno, EL Commiskey, MF Niedner
BMJ Quality and Safety, 2011, 20(11):914-922

Read more here.