A fifth of acute trusts fail to honestly report safety mistakes
One in five NHS acute trusts have been rated “poor” for honest reporting on patient safety suggesting potentially dangerous mistakes are being ignored.
The data, published by the Department of Health, is part of a wider move to make NHS safety performance more transparent and prevent another Mid Staffordshire scandal. Using the official statistics patients will be able to compare the safety performance of trusts across the UK and choose the best care for them. Information on staffing levels has also been shared by the DoH showing the percentage of healthcare professionals’ hours filled as per the workforce plan. This data set is still to be completed but one mental health care facility in Maidstone only managed to fill half of its planned staffing hours.
Health secretary Jeremy Hunt said: “We have come a long way since Mid Staffordshire, however there are too many cases where NHS staff who have raised concerns about safety have been ignored. Today we have introduced measures to help tackle this head on.”
These measures include a new microsite on the NHS Choices safety website, which will publish updated NHS data on safety and staffing levels with the aim of driving up standards. Sir Robert Francis QC will lead a fresh review into the reporting culture in the NHS that has previously meant employee concerns about patient safety were ignored. This review will examine how frontline staff can be supported to raise their concerns without fear of reprisal or detriment to their careers as well as re-examining the way whistle blowing cases are dealt with.
Sir Robert said: “We need a culture where ‘I need to report this’ is the thought, foremost in the mind of any NHS worker that has concerns – a culture where concerns are listened to and acted upon.” Citing unnecessary deaths at Mid Staff he emphasised the "appalling consequences of a closed ranks culture".
And Sir David Dalton, chief executive of Salford Royal NHS Foundation, will lead the newly launched ‘Sign up to Safety’ campaign which all trusts will be invited to join to share best practice and learn from each other to improve patient care.
Highlighting the vital role HR can play in supporting better patient care and safety, Ben Willmott, head of public policy at the CIPD, said: “Improved transparency around safety breaches in the NHS is a welcome step on the road to creating strong and open organisational cultures in which risk, failure and wrongdoing cannot thrive.
"But we need to nip problems in the bud long before they manifest themselves as safety concerns. Monitoring and analysis of data on staff engagement, stress, absence and training and development can provide the early warning signs that could have helped to prevent the shocking failings witnessed at Mid Staffs and highlight the actions that need to be taken by leaders to develop more patient-centric cultures in the NHS.”
Dean Royles, chief executive of the NHS Employers organisation, commented: “The NHS is increasingly digital, so it is absolutely right that we all strive to improve on patient safety through the use of data and information. This means not only being open and transparent but intelligent in the way we triangulate data to be meaningful, helping patients and citizens make informed judgements and decisions.
“It is welcome news that the patient safety website will be developed further to include information about both staffing levels and staff experience, as both are important factors in providing safe and effective patient care.”
He also said that the Sir Robert Francis review would give employers an opportunity to make their voice heard on whistle blowing as it had “often been missing from the debate” in media coverage. He urged employers across the NHS to engage with the review and said he hoped it would examine some of the “outdated, laborious and complex” processes NHS organisations are required to use in such cases.