A community of safety-minded healthcare organisations is coming together as the Health Foundation’s Safer Patients Network. The network will test, develop and export ways to make healthcare safer for patients and build improvement skills in their systems of care.
Taking forward the work of the Foundation’s Safer Patients Initiative (SPI), the members of the network will work alongside the Health Foundation and our partner the Institute for Healthcare Improvement to get the network off the ground.
The network’s members will build on the safety expertise gained through their involvement in the Safer Patients Initiative. Their aim is to work together to develop the network as a self-sustaining, member-driven community of practice to catalyse improvements in patient safety.
Annette Bartley, Director of the network said ‘The Safer Patients Network’s vision is to be a source of energy, inspiration and help – we want members of the network to be the ‘go to’ people for information, expertise and connections around patient safety – as well as a source of results and innovation’
The Safer Patients Network will aim at:
- sustaining and strengthening the impact of the Safer Patients Initiative within current participating organisations
- creating opportunities to test and develop new approaches to patient safety, which others within the network and the wider system can take forward
- building capability in the service by establishing accredited sites which will offer coaching, mentoring and support in improving patient safety to the wider health system.
The Health Foundation’s vision for the network is to develop a community of practice that seeks to continually improve patient safety and sustain and spread excellent results; enable further development of skills and knowledge to ensure safe and reliable care; and seek additional ways in which SPI organisations can catalyse safety improvements across the national systems.