Latest News

Stop Cancer at Work Campaign welcomes progress made in protecting workers from cancer and reproductive problems at work

04/01/2022

European Parliament and European Council agree on greater protection and reference to reprotoxic substances and hazardous medicinal products Read more

G7 presidency statement – patient safety: from vision to reality

25/11/2021

The UK convened a meeting on ‘Patient safety: from vision to reality’ Read more

NHS is at breaking point and putting patients at high risk, bosses warn

11/11/2021

9 in 10 leaders say work pressures and lack of staff are unsustainable in England Read more

‘Safety for All’ white paper published

20/10/2021

‘Safety for All’ white paper published to prioritise improvement in both patient and healthcare worker safety. Read more

One in six most critically ill NHS patients are unvaccinated pregnant women with Covid

11/10/2021

Unvaccinated pregnant women at high risk. Read more

Maria Caulfield MP confirmed as new Minister for Patient Safety

22/09/2021

Former cancer nurse announced as new Minster for Patient Safety Read more

Troubled maternity wards still jeopardising patients

21/09/2021

Mothers and babies remain at risk from poor care and closed systems. Read more

New patient coalition launched for digital health technology

17/09/2021

A new coalition has come together to ensure the interests of patients are at the heart of the development of policy in digital health technology. Read more

7 key resources for maternity safety

17/09/2021

The theme of World Patient Safety Day 2021 is ‘Safe maternal and newborn care’. Read more

World Patient Safety Day 2021

13/09/2021

The theme of World Patient Safety Day 2021 is "safe maternal and newborn care” Read more

Upcoming Patient Safety Events

09/09/2021

Patient Safety in Focus and the HSJ Patient Safety Congress. Read more

Hospitals told to remove toxic chemical after children left with burns and patients injected by mistake

31/08/2021

Confusion over similar looking bottles led to some mistakes that left patients needing intensive care. Read more

MPs say 1,000 babies die preventable deaths in England each year

06/07/2021

Commons health committee says NHS has reduced baby deaths significantly but could do more to improve safety. Read more

Government guidance continues to put staff and patients at risk from the airborne nature of Covid-19

06/07/2021

Fresh Air NHS, Patient Safety Learning and the SHBN calling for urgent change to the UK government’s guidelines on PPE Read more

Covid: Masks upgrade cuts infection risk, research finds

02/07/2021

The quality of face masks healthcare workers wear makes a huge difference to their risk of coronavirus infection, Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust research has found. Wearing a high grade mask known as an FFP3 can provide up to… Read more

NHS trusts hiring non-nurses for nursing roles

09/06/2021

Royal College of Nursing says recruiting people without the correct qualifications puts patients at risk. The RCN said the employment of non-nurses to work as nurses in hospitals and mental health facilities “should set alarm bells ringing with ministers” and… Read more

PPE guidance continues to put staff and patients at risk

08/06/2021

Dr David Tomlinson has written a piece today on the hub of Patient Safety Learning describing that approximately 1,000 healthcare and care workers died from COVID-19 in the UK and 122,000 workers are suffering from Long COVID. He argues… Read more

Safety put at risk by staff burnout in health and social care

08/06/2021

NHS and care staff in England are so burnt out that it has become an “emergency” and risks the future of the health service, MPs have warned. A highly critical report said workers were exhausted and overstretched because of staff… Read more

RCN publishes survey into sharps injuries and mucocutaneous exposures in 2020

28/05/2021

Sharps injuries (SI) and mucocutaneous exposures (MCE), collectively termed “blood and body fluid exposure” (BBFE), pose a diseases-transmission risk and a psychological stress to health care workers (HCW) and a responsibility on employers to prevent their occurrence. The RCN… Read more

How will NHS staff with Long Covid be supported?

27/05/2021

In a recent blog post, Patient Safety Learning interviewed Asad Khan, a doctor who has been suffering with persistent symptoms of Covid-19 for more than six months. This is also commonly referred to as Long Covid.  Asad highlights the pressing… Read more

US Nurses to Picket Over Failure to Create Safer Patient Care Conditions

25/05/2021

Registered nurses represented by the Massachusetts Nurses Association at Falmouth Hospital will hold an informational picket on May 26 to call attention to Cape Cod Healthcare executives refusing to negotiate a new contract that creates safer patient care conditions. A contract agreement… Read more

UK Hospitals Accused of Burying Dozens of Patient Safety Reports

19/05/2021

UK hospitals have been accused of hiding nearly 100 secret reports written by expert doctors and investigating patient safety problems. BBC’s Panorama is to reveal on Wednesday that of the 111 ‘invited reviews’ requested from medical royal colleges by trusts,… Read more

COVID-19 vaccinations prompt CDC guidance on sharps disposal

05/05/2021

Two new fact sheets from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are intended to help health care workers, managers and purchase agents ensure the safe handling and disposal of sharps during the nation’s COVID-19 mass vaccination effort. The agency defines a… Read more

European Biosafety Network publishes new guidance to prevent sharps injuries

28/04/2021

Europe must act now to stop the spread of deadly diseases due to COVID-19 Healthcare workers and patients are being put at risk not only from COVID-19 but other deadly diseases as a result of an increase in sharps injuries… Read more

European Parliament votes to stop cancer at work and include hazardous drugs and reprotoxins in the Carcinogens and Mutagens Directive (CMD)

26/03/2021

Stop Cancer at Work Campaign calls on the European Commission to work with the Parliament and Council to legislate now to prevent workplace cancer  The European Parliament voted yesterday late afternoon to support the Stop Cancer at Work campaign’s demands… Read more

Staff safety and wellbeing in the NHS: The difference between vision and reality

19/03/2021

very year, the NHS surveys its staff to find out about their experiences of working for their respective organisations. This week saw the publication of the 2020 NHS Staff Survey, which had almost 600,000 respondents representing 47% of NHS staff… Read more

Healthcare Worker Safety and Patient Safety ‘Two Sides of the Same Coin’ says Jeremy Hunt

18/03/2021

Speaking today at a webinar for the Clinical Human Factors Group, Jeremy Hunt MP, Chair of the Health and Social Committee for the House of Commons, has said that Healthcare Worker Safety and Patient Safety and ‘two sides of the… Read more

Virtual Conference on Hospital Workers Wellbeing Matters

15/03/2021

On 23rd February 2021, the International Society for Quality in Healthcare (ISQa) and the International Hospital Federation (IHF) held a virtual conference on hospital workers wellbeing matters. The event provided ISQa’s and IHF’s members and the wider community a global perspective… Read more

NHSE/I publish update to Patient Safety Strategy

10/03/2021

NHS England and Improvement have published an update to their joint paper The NHS Patient Safety Strategy. The strategy which was first published in June 2019 set out the NHS’s strategy for achieving its vision of continuously improve patient safety. Read more

The Clinical Human Factors Group is holding a conference on the impact of staff well-being on creating safety on 18th March

08/03/2021

On 18th March 2021, The Clinical Human Factors Group will be holding a virtual conference on the impact of staff well-being on creating safety. The Clinical Human Factors Group is a charity that works with healthcare professionals, managers and service-users… Read more

Safety fears over new maternity service ignored by NHS bosses

18/10/2021

‘An aircraft would not take off without the correct crew, but maternity services do this every day’ Read more