Project Summary

Background

The Health Education England (HEE) established the Commission on Education and Training for Patient Safety, chaired by Professor Sir Norman Williams and vice-chaired by Sir Keith Pearson, with Imperial College London designated as the Academic Partner to review and make recommendations to improve education and training for patient safety in the UK. More specifically, the Commission’s aim was to understand the evidence behind the effectiveness of various education and training interventions for patient safety targeted towards NHS staff.

The Commission made twelve recommendations, which will be implemented by HEE over 2016 and 2017, and will directly influence how NHS staff are training in patient safety, the way training and education are commissioned, and the quality and safety of the care that is delivered to patients. We expect the implementation of these recommendations will result in a new generation of patients and staff with the knowledge, skills, attitudes, behaviours and values to deliver safer care. The twelve recommendations are listed below. 

Recommendations

• Ensure learning from patient safety data and good practice
• Develop and use a common language to describe all elements of quality improvement science and human factors with respect to patient safety
• Ensure robust evaluation of education and training for patient safety
• Engage patients, family members, carers and the public in the design and delivery of education and training for patient safety
• Supporting the duty of candour is vital and there must be high-quality educational training packages available
• The learning environment must support all learners and staff to raise and respond to concerns about patient safety
• The content of mandatory training for patient safety needs to be coherent across the NHS
• All NHS leaders need patient safety training so they have the knowledge and tools to drive change and improvement
• Education and training must support the delivery of more integrated ‘joined up’ care
• Ensure increased opportunities for inter-professional learning
• Principles of human factors and professionalism must be embedded across education and training
• Ensure staff have the skills to identify and manage potential risk
  
  

Outputs

 The list of recommendations and full commission report is available from Health Education England.