The NHS patient safety strategy: what you need to know

NHS England and NHS Improvement’s joint paper The NHS patient safety strategy: Safer culture, safer systems, safer patients (July 2019) is the culmination of a two-year paradigm shift in the way the NHS treats patient safety. The transformation of the NHS Litigation Authority into NHS Resolution, creation of the Health Service Investigations Branch, upcoming reforms to clinical negligence claim handling are all indicative of a move away from a culture of blame to one of learning.

The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has positioned patient safety as ‘a golden thread’ running through everything the health service does, with the improvement of safety to be tied to advancements in technology and improvements to staff and patient engagement.

This briefing summarises the key points of the NHS patient safety strategy, provides analysis and the NHS Confederation's response.