Be careful about what you wish for in NHS patient safety reform

A period of reflection is always needed in professional endeavours. We need to ensure that what we are doing is still relevant and effective. Reflecting on professional reforms keeps our practice vibrant and healthy, avoiding stagnation. Emerging problems can be identified and strategies for prevention discussed along with any necessary recalibration and fine-tuning. The NHS has been no sloth when it comes to health regulatory, governance and patient safety reforms. Over the years, official inquiries and investigations into tragic patient safety crises in hospitals and elsewhere have spawned several reforms (Sirrs, 2023), and these span decades. The result is that we have a complex system of NHS healthcare regulation and governance that is confusing for both patients and staff:

‘Patients struggle to navigate the complaints system and it may take some time to find the correct organisation to complain to.’

Cumberlege, 2020: 30