Northern Ireland welcomes patient safety collaboration

The foundation will provide£150,000 to the forum, which will allow forum members access to expert training and learning resources on keeping people safe in hospitals.

Dr McBride said: "This new relationship is an exciting one. It is an endorsement of the work that health and social care organisations have already done to improve the quality and safety of patient care. It is a wonderful opportunity to learn further from the expertise and skills available to the Health Foundation - these have already enabled trusts to make great strides through their participation in the foundation's Safer Patient Initiative."

He added: "Northern Irelandis in a unique position with its integrated health and social care system and I believe that, with the foundation's support, we can be innovative in extending patient and client safety interventions into areas such as mental health, learning disability and children's services."

Health Foundation chief executive Stephen Thornton said: "We are delighted to be able to announce our collaboration with the Safety Forum. This will help build on the fantastic work already being done by the forum and give them extra resources to make even greater improvements in patient safety.

"There are no quick fixes to make hospitals safer, just a lot of hard work. We hope our support will help committed people make an even greater difference."