Patient safety update

This update explains the Health Foundation's continuing work around patient safety, what we've learnt so far and our key priorities for the future.

Preventable harm in healthcare is nearly always caused by system failures. The Health Foundation has successfully worked with hospitals across the UK on improving the quality of services they offer to patients. 

This leaflet explains how we are working to embed approaches used in our flagship Safer Patients Initiative programme across the UK. We're establishing partnetships with strategic health authorities and have begun a network of safety-minded organisations.

We're now working with the service to develop new approaches to safety, such as through our Safer Clinical Systems scheme. We're also exploring ways to spread our safety approach to new areas of healthcare.

Our fundamental priorities for improving patient safety are to:

• raise awareness
• create a safety culture of openness and learning
• build and sustain capacity and capability in improvement methods.