World patient safety day: safe care for noncommunicable diseases
For those of us working across health and social care, the message is particularly relevant.
Many people living with long term conditions receive care from multiple professionals, across different organisations and settings. Every handover, referral, medication change and communication presents an opportunity to improve care but also a potential point where things can go wrong.
Patient safety is therefore not solely about responding to incidents, it is about creating systems that enable people to receive safe, coordinated and person centered care every day.
At NASHiCS we recognise the vital contribution that health, safety and compliance professionals make in supporting safer environments for patients, residents, staff and visitors. Whether through effective governance, learning from incidents, risk management or fostering positive safety cultures, our members play an important role in reducing avoidable harm.
On World Patient Safety Day, we encourage all organisations to take the opportunity to reflect on:
- How effectively information is shared across teams and services.
- Whether patients and families are genuinely involved in decisions about their care.
- How learning from incidents is translated into meaningful improvement.
- What more can be done to strengthen a culture where safety is everyone’s responsibility.