This website is intended for healthcare professionals

Patient Safety

The urgent need to improve health professionals' communication skills

In a healthcare context these basic expectations of how the communication process between health professional and patient should proceed will take on an increased significance because of the power...

Patient safety: tensions, challenges and opportunities

Another contender for one of my favourite influential patient safety reports is emerging: the NHS Patient Safety Strategy (NHS England and NHS Improvement, 2019). A 2021 update has recently been...

Clinical negligence litigation reform: the link between safety and the law

Over the past 20 years or more there have been frequent discussions about how well our tort-based, civil justice compensation system is working. A key issue in these discussions is the reasons behind...

Learning the lessons from patient safety incidents

‘Staff are struggling to cope with large volumes of safety guidance, they have little time and space to implement guidance effectively, and the systems and processes around them are not always...

Towards a safer NHS?

‘Written words are not like conversation: there is no inflexion, no stress, no sense of irony, no opportunity to ask, ‘What do you mean?’. The lifeblood of everyday speech is missing. The reader...

Considering reasonable standards

Lintern (2021) reported comments made to the Independent by Professor Ted Baker, Chief Inspector of Hospitals at the Care Quality Commission (CQC):.

Looking back over the past year in patient safety

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) (2020)State of Care annual assessment of health and social care in England noted some improvement in NHS acute care, where 75% of core services were rated as good or...

To learn the lessons, think beyond the specialty

Patient safety reports have a key role in helping staff maintain and develop good organisational cultures. They are a rich source of real-time information showing how nurses and doctors can better...

Patient safety: a multifaceted issue

A key issue with policy development and culture change is always going to be the pace of change. I have said many times in my columns that this has been too slow and that systemic problems perpetuate....

Reflecting on the state of health and social care in England

The report argues that before COVID-19 care was generally good, but with little overall improvement with some specific areas of concern identified. In terms of NHS acute care, there was some...

The Long and Winding Road to Developing a Patient Safety Culture

Whether it is the NHS in England or in a developing or transitioning country, a patient safety culture and a focus on health quality are intrinsic, inseparable features. Common sense dictates that a...

Global and national perspectives on patient safety

‘These include steps to protect health workers from violence; to improve their mental health; to protect them from physical and biological hazards; to advance national programmes for health worker...

Why choose British Journal of Nursing?

BJN provides nurses with an evidence base for clinical practice and a platform for professional development. It shares the information and advice that is key to unlocking your full potential.

What's included

  • Clinical expertise

  • Peer-reviewed research

  • Best practice guidance

  • CPD support

Subscriptions start:

From £13.75 GBP