New Learning and Improvement Webinars
On 17 September Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust is marking World Patient Safety Day with the launch of a series of Learning and Improvement Webinars. These will give staff from across the organisation the opportunity to share what they have learned from various events or incidents, and to showcase any improvements they have made which have impacted on the safety and quality of services.
The Learning and Improvement Webinars will replace the Trust’s more formal Learning and Improvement Group, and holding them on Microsoft Teams enables staff from across the organisation to easily join in and spread safety improvements far and wide.
The first of the re-launched sessions will include four short presentations with topics ranging from body-worn cameras to taking a ‘stop the line’ approach to patient safety. Staff can join the session on Microsoft Teams by clicking the link in the email invite they have received.
(Staff interested in finding out more, or in presenting at a future session, can email [email protected].)
‘Safety Huddles’ being rolled out across wards
The Trust’s award-winning Positive and Safe Care Team are also using World Patient Safety Day as an opportunity tell people about their latest initiative, Safety Huddles.
Paul Sams, a Service User Project Coordinator in the team, explained, “We already knew that Safety Huddles were being used successfully in other Trusts, and we were able to visit East London NHS Foundation Trust to observe them in action.”
Following this visit the team developed a version of Safety Huddles for CNTW, and when trialled on three wards the approach resulted in a significant reduction in violence and aggression, as well as incidences of self-harm – something the team had been finding especially difficult to address.
Explaining their unique approach, Paul said, “Our Safety Huddles are the first we know of that offer patients and staff the same opportunity to assess together how safe the ward feels, using a really straightforward ‘red/amber/green’ response. The ward them works alongside patients to do respond to any issues identified. This really breaks down the traditional ‘them and us’ barriers.”
Safety Huddles are now being rolled out to all wards with support from the Positive and Safe Care Team’s Talk 1st group, and over half of the wards in the Trust have already begun using them.
In the future, the team would also like to make their Safety Huddles model available to other Trusts that are interested in setting them up.
For more information about Safety Huddles, please email [email protected].