In this week’s patient safety supplement, HSJ explores the art and importance of hiring temporary staff, and why clinical care protocols are the way ahead.

Injecting a rubber hand for doctors' training

Not fur reuse

Renegotiation and future of junior doctors' contracts

Patient safety supplement cover

In the first section on workforce, Jennifer Trueland discusses why the key to patient safety is planning through the wise deployment of locums and other temporary staff.

Stephen Burke, chief executive of HCL Workforce Solutions, also explains why using flexible staff is inevitable to ensure patients remain safe.

Case studies of South Tees Hospitals Foundation Trust and Worcestershire Acute Hospitals Trust are used to demonstrate how HCL Workforce Solutions’ software made their systems for hiring temporary staff more efficient.

The supplement’s second section is about clinical care protocols. Shreshtha Trivedi tells how evidence based clinical care protocols hold the key to standardising care, ironing out variations in practice and saving money.

Tracy Eastman, director of the BMJ Evidence Centre, also discusses how protocols are already making a difference.

Topics

Patient safety supplement: The locum motive and body of evidence