Developing an NHS patient safety culture: swings and roundabouts

The gold standard aims of all those concerned with patient safety policy and practice is to see the development of a proper NHS patient safety culture. There have been myriad calls for this over the years that continue to be made strongly today in policy documents, reports into care quality and in many other places. Calls are also frequently made in the media when patient safety crises are reported.

In this column I will be discussing a recent report and consultation call that address key NHS patient safety culture development issues. First, the expert report submitted by Professor Mary Dixon-Woods to the Thirlwall Inquiry, which has been set up to look at events at the Countess of Chester Hospital and implications following the trial and subsequent convictions of Lucy Letby (Dixon-Woods, 2024). Second, a joint consultation from Action against Medical Accidents (AvMA) and the Harmed Patients Alliance (HPA) on a ‘Harmed Patient Pathway’ (AvMA and HPA, 2024). These both cast an important light on the development of an NHS patient safety culture, raising critical issues and concerns.