05 Art Metodol 513 (66-70)

Every day more than a million people are treated safely and successfully in healthcare. However the advances in technology and knowledge in recent decades have created an immensely complex healthcare system. This complexity brings risks, and evidence shows that things will and do go wrong in healthcare. The effects of harming a patient are widespread. There can be devastating emotional and physical consequences for patients and their families. For the staff involved too, incidents can be distressing, while members of their clinical teams can become demoralised and disaffected. Safety incidents also incur costs through litigation and extra treatment. Patient safety concerns everyone in healthcare, whether you work in a clinical or a non-clinical role. Tackling patient safety in healthcare collectively and in a systematic way can have a positive impact on the quality of care and efficiency of healthcare organisations. Some organisations are already well advanced along the route to patient safety but many are right at the beginning of their journey. The Department of Health publication An Organisation with a Memory1, mobilised the patient safety movement in the UK. The report reviewed the growing body of inAbstract