Principles and collaborative practices: a roundup of summer publications

Patient safety has become a large national and international service industry with many stakeholders, all keen to advance their own agendas. Nurses and others concerned with patient safety policy making and practice will need to sift out which guidelines and publications to follow, which are more authoritative and relevant to their practice. There will often be different views expressed.

Professional updating has become increasingly difficult over the years as the patient safety body of literature has grown and many healthcare staff are busy working in environments where there could be more resources. Learning is also hampered by a fragmented and complex regulation and governance infrastructure. We can add to this mix with the need for nurses and others to be aware of and learn from the reports of investigations into NHS patient safety crises – both published and in the pipeline.

The Patient Safety Commissioner (PSC) recently published a consultation paper on draft principles of better patient safety (PSC, 2024a). The principles will act as a guide, the PSC states, for senior leaders for the design and delivery of safe care and the reduction of avoidable harm. They will provide a clear framework for decision-making, planning, and collaborative working. Patients will be partners in this process. The principles will be also relevant for healthcare providers, commissioners, regulators, manufacturers, and the broader supply chain. In a blog, Henrietta Hughes, the PSC, shared the thinking behind the principles: