Publishing of patient safety data

The Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust is taking part in a pilot initiative which will see information on patient safety, clinical effectiveness and patient experience, along with patients’ own stories, published.

‘Open and honest care: Driving improvement’ will involve the hospitals run by The Pennine Acute Trust – North Manchester General Hospital, The Royal Oldham Hospital, Rochdale Infirmary and Fairfield General Hospital in Bury.

The Trust’s website will list data, including the number of patients that develop bed sores whilst in hospital, the number of falls recorded, as well as hospital infection rates. The information will be pulled together alongside patient stories as well as figures from the NHS ‘safety thermometer’ and the national Friends and Family Test (FFT) scores.

The Chief Nursing Officer for England says that absolute transparency is key for driving up standards in care. Addressing the delegates at the annual Chief Nursing Officer’s Summit in Birmingham recently, Jane Cummings, said: “Failings such as those at Mid Staffordshire and Winterbourne View threatened patient confidence and challenged us all as professionals. The response to these failings has been the focus of the health system over the last year with the overriding question being – what do we need to do to ensure this is never repeated? Never before has change been more important. Absolute transparency is the key to driving improvements in standards of care and we need to ensure that every single patient receives great care, every time.”

NHS Trusts will use this data at ward, department and Board level to assist their understanding of harm reduction and quality improvement programmes in their organisation. Publication enables the Trust to share and engage in a different way with the public and facilitate discussions about where improvements are needed and the action being taken.

Mandie Sunderland, Chief Nurse at The Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, said: “We’ve always collected this data and much of it is reported monthly at our Trust Board meetings and is available on our website. However, by hospital Trusts publishing this data it is hoped it will be more visible and easier for our patients and the public to understand. We will use it to further drive up care standards in all our clinical areas. This will help us assure the Trust Board, our commissioners, our staff, and most importantly, our patients and public who use our hospital and community services.”