Introducing a systematic and sustainable patient safety oversight function in a U.K. arms-length healthcare body

Abstract

Background The healthcare landscape is experiencing a profound period of change with accelerating developments in medical research, new treatments, care delivery and the use of innovative technology to meet the challenges of delivering care. These changes offer opportunities but as with all innovation, require careful management to reduce the likelihood of harm and error. Objective The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has set out to introduce an adaptable, sustainable and systematic patient safety oversight group to ensure that patient safety is embedded at an organisation level supporting the healthcare system to overcome challenges and deliver high quality care, safely implementing the latest innovations in a timely manner. Method The patient safety oversight group was established through a scoping exercise, led by the senior responsible officer and a small project team. The article sets out the methods used, including extensive internal engagement through structured interviews with senior leadership teams, purposive sampling, data synthesis and reporting. An overview of the group is given and considerations for promoting patient safety information flows and optimising the use of safety signal intelligence are made. Conclusion Through reflection on changing needs within and surrounding the organisation, along with patient safety and complexity literature, NICE has developed an adaptable, systematic and sustainable model for managing patient safety. In addition to generating learning within NICE, the process highlights opportunities for improvement within the patient safety system. Result NICE has developed an adaptable, systematic and sustainable model for managing patient safety.