In this blog from Stuart Kaill, Programme Development Lead for the Patient Safety Collaborative at Health Innovation Manchester, he discusses the collaborative working taking place across the north-west to help implement the Patient Safety Incident Response Framework (PSIRF).

NHS England launched the Patient Safety Incident Response framework (PSIRF) on September 5, 2022. PSIRF is part of the Patient Safety Strategy and aims to align the response to patient safety events with modern safety science and practices used in other safety-critical industries. The Greater Manchester and Eastern Cheshire (GMEC) Patient Safety Collaborative (PSC), in partnership with the Innovation Agency, NHSE North West Region, and Aqua, established a North West PSIRF collaborative to provide support in the region.

The GMEC PSC team faced the challenge of understanding the PSIRF documentation and developing a support plan. They organised face-to-face events and virtual coaching sessions to guide organisations through the implementation process.

The first event focused on introducing PSIRF and featured speakers from NHS England, East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust, and NHS Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Care Board. Breakout sessions allowed attendees to discuss PSIRF development needs and plan for the implementation.

The second event centred around safety culture and psychological safety. Speakers discussed the concepts of safety culture and shared experiences from the prison sector and the RAF to illustrate their relevance to healthcare. The afternoon session provided time for team discussions and planning.

The third event, initially postponed due to nurses’ strikes, emphasized compassionate engagement within PSIRF. Speakers highlighted the importance of a just, open, and learning culture and introduced the Patient Safety Partner (PSP) program.

The fourth event focused on improvement, bringing together quality improvement (QI) leads and patient safety colleagues. The event began with a plenary session on QI approaches in the NHS and their connection to PSIRF. The session was led by a member of the GMEC PSC team, who shared expertise and used engaging materials such as video clips to illustrate key concepts. The day concluded with a plenary Q&A session involving all the speakers.

Throughout the events, the GMEC PSC team collaborated with partners to provide a consolidated support offer to organisations in the region. The events received positive feedback and generated valuable discussions and insights. The GMEC PSC team learned from the experiences of the speakers and participants, and the collaborative approach fostered efficiency and idea sharing. The events also provided dedicated time for teams to reflect, plan, and discuss the implementation of PSIRF in their own organisations.

As the commission reached its conclusion, the GMEC PSC team expressed gratitude for the opportunity to work with such talented and committed individuals and organisations. The collaborative effort allowed them to achieve economies of scale and benefit from diverse perspectives from across the north-west. The success of the events demonstrated the value of the support provided and highlighted the need for continued accessibility and engagement.

Overall, the events played a crucial role in introducing PSIRF, promoting discussions, sharing experiences, and facilitating planning for its implementation. The events fostered a supportive and open environment for healthcare professionals to learn, collaborate, and work towards improving patient safety across the north-west.

You can find out more about the Patient Safety Incident Response Framework (PSIRF) including resources and toolkits to help organisations work towards its implementation here

Find out more about the work of the Patient Safety Collaborative here 

You can read more about Stuart’s thoughts on PSIRF and the events in a series of blog posts on his LinkedIn page here