Blog: A Journey Towards Safer Care by Dr Jemma Barton

Written by Dr Jemma Barton, Programme Lead for Safety and Mortality

As one of the Programme Leads at Aqua, I am privileged to lead a variety of Safe Care programmes for our members and customers.

We’re committed to supporting organisations on their journey to implement the Patient Safety Incident Response Framework – otherwise known as PSIRF.

But why is this work important and how do we help organisations to achieve safer, more reliable care?

Why is this a journey?

I use the word ‘journey’ intentionally here…

That’s because our work with NHS Trusts and healthcare organisations often reveals that PSIRF is so much more than a framework for investigation. It’s actually an organisation development tool which can help you think deeply about psychological safety and organisational culture.

The emerging themes

From our discussions with numerous teams and organisations about implementing PSIRF, a few clear and interesting themes have emerged including:

• There is a real appreciation for the principles of PSIRF, particularly the system-based approaches to learning and improvement
• By using case studies, our programme delegates can often identify their own opportunities for learning and understanding how using a system-based approach is not about compartmentalising issues, but rather it’s a way to better understand the complexity of healthcare
• There’s a significant focus on the compassionate and engagement principle of PSIRF. We often have lots of discussions about actively involving patients and their families in Patient Safety Incident Investigations (PSII) and learning from responses – as well as including the development of joint terms of reference for investigations and engaging families with improvement work.

However, there are still concerns about how learning responses can be facilitated effectively.

Questions frequently arise such as…

“Who has the expertise to conduct an After-Action Review within an organisation?”

“How can we effectively gather individuals after a patient safety incident?”

The demand for sessions that engage executive boards and senior leaders in workshops focused on the oversight mindset has grown. Yet, the emphasis should be on fostering and tracking improvements in care safety, rather than merely assessing the quality of investigations.

What makes our agile approach to patient safety so special?

The team and I pride ourselves on our agile approach to meet customer needs by developing tailored and bespoke programmes which align with the national framework for PSIRF education and reflect each organisation’s unique situation – that’s what makes working with us special.

Our Safe Care Impact 2024

Have a look at this map which showcases the range of NHS Trusts we have partnered with and positively impacted from September 2023 – June 2024:

Our PSIRF Support

Our PSIRF offer includes a focus on system-based approaches to learning, supportive oversight, learning responses and compassionate engagement – and our approach means we incorporate time and opportunities to help you practice and develop key skills to use in your workplace.

We work closely with our Lived Experience Partners who are instrumental in supporting the development and facilitation of our compassionate engagement programme – something which is really special.

As we look to the future, I can’t wait to continue making a positive impact across even more organisations.

My final question for you is, are you ready to start your PSIRF journey towards safer care?

Get in touch

Contact a member of our team to see how we can help you and find out more about Safe Care at Aqua.

Join our next Patient Safety Incident Response Framework (PSIRF) two-day implementation programme.

Understand the four principles of PSIRF, how they relate to safety in your organisation and have the confidence to apply tools to support these principles in practice.

• Dates: Thursday 14 November and Thursday 21 November 2024
• Virtual
• Open to Members (for free – am I a Member?) and Non-Members (please contact us for a price enquiry)