Patient safety in the NHS: latest reports update

In the ‘new normal’, after the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic, two major patient safety reports have been published by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) (2020) and NHS England and NHS Improvement, (2020). Additionally, events relating to the Shrewsbury and Telford maternity care crises are developing and West Mercia Police have confirmed that they are looking ‘… into what threatens to be one of the worst scandals in the history of the NHS’ at the Shrewsbury and Telford NHS Hospital Trust (Weaver, 2020):

‘The trust's maternity services are currently subject to an independent inquiry, led by Donna Ockenden, which has identified 1170 cases over a 40-year period that warrant investigation.’

These recent publications and events have made me reflect on the statement given in the summary of the NHS Patient Safety Strategy (NHS England and NHS Improvement, 2019):