NHS England has revealed further details about its plans to introduce patient safety collaboratives in response to the recommendations of the Francis inquiry.

In November last year the national body pledged to bring about the world’s largest single patient safety improvement programme, structured around 15 collaboratives covering every geographical area of England.

A paper discussed at the NHS England’s January board meeting states the patient safety collaboratives are due to be established by the end of 2014-15, based on the boundaries of academic health science networks. By this time NHS England should have also developed a “nationally consistent system for patient safety measurement across each collaborative”, it says.

NHS England will invest £12m annually into the programme for a minimum of five years. The board papers note “the proposals represent a moderate level of investment” in comparison to previous collaborative improvement programmes, such as those relating to cancer and heart disease, which cost £18m and £21m respectively.

The papers also outline the role of the proposed collaboratives. These are to:

  • offer staff, users, carers patients, throughout the healthcare system the opportunity work together locally to tackle specific patient safety problems
  • improve the safety of systems of care
  • build patient safety improvement capability
  • focus on the actions that can make the biggest difference to their patients using evidence-based methodologies.

Jane Cummings, NHS England’s chief nursing officer, said the collaboratives would “have a national overview” but local leaders would be responsible for delivering the programme.

She added: “We will engage with patients, carers, staff, providers, commissioners in looking at improvement at a local level with some national oversight.”

Ms Cummings said the “challenge” was for the programme to be a “be a whole system response” and not limited to “pockets of brilliance”.

The PSCs will be required to focus on pressure ulcers and medication areas on the first instance, but local organisations will then be able to identify priorities, she added.

NHS England will also appoint 5,000 fellows over the next five years “who are experts in patient safety, experts in safety and improvement and will be able to work at local levels”, Ms Cummings said.

The collaboratives will be expected to provide a “sustainable and statistically significant reduction in patient harm by autumn 2015”.

Every provider and commissioner of NHS-funded care will be expected to be involved in patient safety improvement activity by 2018-19.

Ms Cummings assured the board there would be no overlap with the role of the Care Quality Commission. She said: “The CQC are not responsible for [getting] people to improve, they’re responsible for reviewing, for assessing and commenting on what’s in place.”

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