HSJ Patient Safety Congress recap: “Putting the needs of the patient first”

Last week (24^th – 25^th October), the Radar Healthcare team headed to Manchester for Health Service Journal’s 15^th annual Patient Safety Congress (PSC).

It was an extremely busy and exciting two days, full of networking, learning, and insightful sessions on improving safety for all – and not to forget the Patient Safety Awards!

There was a lot to be taken from the event; let us recap and look at some of the best bits.

Making patient safety a reality

Dr Henrietta Hughes OBE, the inaugural Patient Safety Commissioner, addressed Congress with her strategy for improving the safety of medicines and medical devices as an independent voice for patients and their families. Henrietta amplified the need to embed safety in everything healthcare professionals do, whether this is reporting on events, communicating with patients and their loved ones, or learning from incidents and complaints, “because everything is a safety matter.”

The event had a central push on how prioritising delivering real people-focused care mutually benefits both patients and healthcare workers: “making patient safety a reality, not a slogan.” Henrietta’s session encompassed this idea, as well as highlighting the need for an open and innovative mindset when considering Integrated Care Systems and the advantages for the industry.

Our Patient Safety specialist and Strategic Sales Lead, Molly Kent took to the stage with Paul Cresswell, Associate Director of Quality Governance at North Bristol NHS Trust to discuss how they were able to harness digital to consolidate their systems and data and embed a culture of continuous improvement.

Molly and Paul investigated what good quality looks like and how a siloed approach to learning from events reduces the opportunities to drive innovation and collaboration, as well as improve patient safety. You can hear all about our partnership with North Bristol NHS Trust here.

Discover more about our partners

Why PSIRF is so important

HSJ’s Patient Safety Congress was also a fantastic opportunity to learn more about PSIRF (Patient Safety Incident Response Framework) as a movement towards improving communication when things go wrong. Dr Henrietta Hughes OBE said, “investigations are not the only method to answer a family’s questions. PSIRF offers the flexibility to help organisations speak more openly with families and answer their questions”. We recently spoke with ITS Leadership’s Judy Walker on After Action Reviews, which is one of the learning response methods listed in the PSIRF Framework. Listen to Judy here.

“Involving families well using the new PSIRF guidance” with Making Families Count posed an interesting discussion about what real families need when an incident or mistake occurs, covering difficult conversations and a guide to good guidance (a PSIRF requirement). Similarly, Patient Safety Management Network’s talk, “The creation of the Patient Safety Managers Network: Set up by staff, for staff to help spread safety innovation”, spoke about how the network, born from the motivation to support people within the industry, is used as an open space for people within patient safety to share, collaborate, and receive advice every week.

At Radar Healthcare our commitment to helping deliver our partners the best possible healthcare outcomes has been there since day one. Compliance isn’t just ticking a box; it’s creating a safer experience. Spotting trends and analysing data isn’t just for board reporting, it’s learning how to prevent incidents and improve future outcomes. We purposely designed our software to be flexible and configurable to ensure you can capture the right information for a culture of continuous improvement.

Talk to us about PSIRF

LFPSE and the extended deadline

LFPSE was also a hot topic at the Congress, especially with the announcement of a six-month extension to 30th September 2023. However, there is still the need to have a supplier in place and a system for testing to be implemented by 31st March 2023.

With that only a matter of months away, it’s important that you partner with someone you trust. In 2021, we were the first supplier to achieve LFPSE compliance, working with NHS Improvement and Milton Keynes University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust (MKUH), which was the first NHS Trust in the UK to go live with the new system. We’re here to help you to make a difference and ensure you have what you need to improve your patient outcomes.

Fantastic recognition for healthcare professionals

Finally, we would also like to congratulate all the finalists and winners of the HSJ Patient Safety Awards 2022. It was a pleasure to attend such an inspirational ceremony, and sponsor the Patient Safety Team of the Year Award, celebrating and recognising the hard-working teams and professionals who strive to deliver improved patient care within the industry.

If you’d like to discuss some of the topics covered, as well as how Radar Healthcare can help your NHS Trust implement PSIRF and LFPSE, you can schedule a 30-minute consultation with Molly Kent, our patient safety specialist below.

Book a 30-minute consultation today!