HSJ Awards 2009 - Patient Safety

The judges were particularly impressed with the way Salford Royal foundation trust’s heartwarming and inspirational presentation brought the patient into the room.

The impact was made all the more powerful by a talking head video of a patient’s daughter telling the story of her mother’s care.

Bringing service users into the trust’s “safety net” policy processes ensures tests of any kind - from the x-ray department to the pathology lab - are put on the electronic reporting system and seen promptly by an appropriate clinician.

This style of presentation was born in part out of a determination to improve on a previous entry that made the shortlist but did not go on to clinch the category, as head of patient safety and legal services Paul Downes explains: “It was somewhat deflating when an earlier project that I was involved with and felt was strong enough to win the award didn’t get chosen on the day.

“That spurred me on to put forward another and equally good piece of work from our quality improvement strategy, under the firm conviction that the way we shared its success with the judges was what would convince them of its standout qualities,” he says.

“Once we had captured the judges’ attention with a personal account that really brought home what the safety net policy is all about we were in a position to describe to them our responses, findings, processes and measurements for improvement.”

The NPSA says: “Patient safety is the priority for the NPSA. Through our Reporting and Learning System we improve patient care in the NHS with rapid responses to incidents, analysis of incidents that come to us via this system and collaborative development of actions that can be implemented locally.”