Safer care during Covid-19

A rapid-learning report on the role of Patient Safety Collaboratives (PSCs) during the pandemic has been published by the AHSN Network. PSCs are just one part of the health and care system which responded quickly to the immediate Covid-19 crisis in March. They reprioritised their day-to-day work and took on new programmes with speed, such as promoting safer tracheostomy care.

PSCs are funded and nationally coordinated by NHS England and NHS Improvement, and hosted locally by the Academic Health Science Networks (AHSNs) including the Health Innovation Network in south London. They make a significant contribution to the NHS Patient Safety Strategy, by supporting the delivery of the National Patient Safety Improvement Programmes and the AHSNs’ focus on accelerating innovation.

The report has been published as part of the NHS Reset campaign and gives examples of how PSCs refocused their work ‘almost overnight’ to respond to the pandemic. It illustrates some of the creative ways AHSNs supported their local systems and how this experience will be built into future patient safety programmes including our own #OnlyHuman campaign. This work encourages front-line health and care staff to prioritise their physical health and emotional wellbeing needs, which are likely to have been neglected due to the impact of Covid-19.

You can read the report at www.ahsnnetwork.com/patient-safety-covid19-report