HR
managers in the NHS have welcomed the creation of a new agency that will boost
patient safety by introducing a national system for reporting failures,
mistakes and near misses in the health service.
The
National Patient Safety Agency will run a mandatory reporting system for
logging all mistakes to ensure that lessons are learned when things go wrong.
It will
collect and analyse information on adverse events from local NHS organizations,
NHS staff and patients and carers and ensure lessons are learnt and then fed
back into practice, service organisation and delivery.
Where
risks are identified it will draw up improved procedures, specify national
goals and establish mechanisms to track progress.
John
Adsett, secretary of the Association of Human Resource Healthcare Managers,
believes the creation of the NPSA is a positive step.
He
commented, “I think the problem is a cultural one. At the moment the NHS is
very much a blame organisation and that is not helped by comments from
ministers and press witch hunts. To turn into a learning organisation we have
to learn from our mistakes and undergo a huge culture change. It is a step that
needs to be taken.”
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