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John Tingle

Examining the new NHS National Patient Safety Syllabus

The National Patient Safety Syllabus is to be welcomed as it combines and integrates several important patient safety-related disciplines into a well-focused and proactive syllabus. The syllabus...

Making the NHS safer: learning from case reports and investigations

It is true to say that cultures do not change overnight but, in the case of the NHS, we are talking about decades. Some things never seem to change, and the same patient safety errors can be seen to...

Will the NHS ever get its complaints system right?

‘Some employers were referring nurses without any investigation at all, while half of initial enquiries to the NMC were rejected or required further work. She told The Independent this emphasis on...

Developing a just culture in the NHS

‘There is no single definition of “just culture” and most discussion of it is limited to the issue of being fair to healthcare staff.’ .

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...

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