Bradford expert helps review national patient safety education and training

Professor Armitage, along with Professor Sir Norman Williams (Chair of the Commission), Professor Wendy Reid (Health Education England) and Dr Gianluca Fontana (Imperial College) were invited to sit on an expert panel at the launch of the recently published report by the Commission on Education and Training for Patient Safety.

The Commission was made up of patient representatives and patient safety experts from clinical practice, professional and statutory bodies, and universities. Working alongside an academic team from the Patient Safety Translational Research Centre at Imperial College, the Commission have developed a comprehensive educational framework for all health care workers with the express objectives of learning from errors, reducing risk and devising effective strategies to prevent harm occurring.

The Commission’s recommendations include mandatory training for patient safety - informed by human factors and from NHS Trust board level to clinical ward level; more inter-professional learning; advancing the skills to enhance the NHS duty of candour; increasing staff knowledge of improvement science and behaviour change; and effective evaluation of educational provision.

The findings and recommendations are of real importance to all health professional educators including those at the University of Bradford. The University currently provides a wide range of undergraduate and post graduate training, and specific provision for patient safety education, led by Professors Gerry Armitage and Mohamed Mohammed.

Gerry warmly welcomes both the Commission’s findings and recommendations: “Good patient safety education is an essential first step in reducing avoidable harm. I am reassured by the fact that the University’s Post Graduate Certificate in Patient Safety, which began two years ago, has included almost all of the Commission’s recommended priorities since its inception.

“The course is underpinned by human factors principles and my colleague Professor Mohammed is a leading expert in improvement science, which forms a significant component of the student’s assessed work. Our challenge is to effectively publicise the course across the region and beyond.

“Moreover, we will strive to ensure the content and outcomes of our undergraduate programmes continue to reflect the Commission’s recommendations and provide the best possible foundation for safe practice and continuous learning for patient safety”

Set out under four broad themes, the report makes a series of recommendations that the panel believe will make the greatest difference to patient safety both now and in the future.

View the full ‘Improving safety through education and training’ report.