NHS Improvement / NHS England has introduced a national patient safety initiative called the Patient Safety Incident Response Framework (PSIRF), which updates the NHS’s approach for responding to incidents for the purpose of learning and improving patient safety.
You can find out more about the PSIRF by clicking here.
This initiative to improve patient safety has been in development for some time and was piloted by some early adopter NHS Trusts across England initially.
PSIRF has four main objectives for ongoing improvement;
- Compassionate engagement and involvement with patients/families/carers & staff
- System based approaches to learning, to support a culture of continuous learning
- Considered and proportionate responses – Understanding our themes and our responses
- Supportive oversight – A process of learning across the system
What will this new framework mean for our patients and their families/carers?
Timely compassionate engagement
With this new approach any patient safety incidents identified or concerns raised about the care a patient received (or indirectly their family or carers) which requires review resulting in a learning response (investigation), will mean that you as a patient, or your family member/ carer, will be given a named key contact to help you through the process and assist you in accessing any support you need.
To share your experience early
You will be able to share yours or your family’s experience and concerns early on in the process with a key individual who will actively listen to understand what happened.
Being part of any learning response (investigation) from the beginning
You or your family/carer will be able to contribute to the learning response (investigation) process in an open and transparent environment and will receive regular updates personalised to your or your family/carer’s needs.
The video below gives an overview of what the framework is and what it means for patients, families and our staff.
On the spot help and advice
If you feel the Trust has not met your expectations, you may wish to make this known. In the first instance we would advise you to speak to the ward manager or matron for the ward as they might be able to resolve your concern promptly by discussing it with you.
If you require support please contact our Patient Advice & Liaison Service (PALS). The service is confidential and they will be happy to assist you and get the right people to speak with you.
The PALS team can be contacted by telephone: 01493 453240 or email: pals@jpaget.nhs.uk
