03.06.14
Whistleblowing leads agenda at Patient Safety Congress
Whistleblowing, regulation and professionalism led the agenda and debate at the recent Patient Safety Congress 2014 in Liverpool.
The event, which ran from 21-22 May at the BT Convention Centre, was attended by more than 1,200 delegates, who heard health secretary Jeremy Hunt encourage more whistleblowing.
When asked if he would be willing to consider a public enquiry on whistleblowing, Hunt said: “We are looking right now at what we can do about whistleblowing; that is perhaps the one last bit of the Francis jigsaw that we need to put in place. It’s an area where we need to do much better.”
Regulation and professionalism were also key talking points in a panel discussion featuring Dr Katherine Rake OBE, Healthwatch England chief executive; Professor Sir Mike Richards (below), chief inspector of hospitals CQC; Professor Sir Cyril Chantler, chair at UCL Partners; Peter Walsh, chief executive at Action Against Medical Accidents; and Miranda Carter, executive director at Monitor.
Chantler controversially asked if the NHS needed a chief quality officer, a question that divided the room. During the Q&A, Ann Smart, a former NHS manager, vociferously challenged the panel on what she saw as NHS leaders’ ‘brush-it-under-the-carpet’ approach to whistleblowing – she was met by an enthusiastic response from the audience of healthcare workers.
In his keynote speech on creating a safer integrated system, Professor Sir Mike Richards spoke of the new way hospitals are being rated using data from a small sample of 12 hospitals and pointed out that “only three out of 12 are considered unsafe”. He also highlighted the value of staff feedback during the inspection of those 12 hospitals.
Statistics and data were also widely debated, with Dr Frances Healy, from NHS England, warning of the pitfalls of human error when using statistics. She suggested that cognitive dissonance, a lack of structural measurements within the NHS and small sample sizes were just a few of the culprits that professionals need to be aware of to prevent the 12,000 avoidable deaths in the NHS each year.
The Congress also welcomed its biggest international speaker roster, with patient safety leaders flying in from Nigeria, Sweden, Australia, USA, Ireland, UAE and Saudi Arabia.
Giles Cummings, divisional director for Congress at i2i Events Group, which organises Patient Safety Congress, said: “Much has been done to improve patient safety since the reports of 2013, but much more is clearly needed following the conversations and debates we’ve heard at Congress.”
The conference will return in 2015 from 18-20 May, this time located at the ICC in Birmingham. For programme updates and videos of this year’s event visit: www.patientsafetycongress.co.uk
Tell us what you think – have your say below or email [email protected]