A rapid-learning report on the role of Patient Safety Collaboratives (PSCs) during the pandemic has been published by the AHSN Network.

PSCs are just one part of the health and care system which responded quickly to the immediate crisis from COVID-19 in March. They reprioritised their day-to-day work and took on new programmes at speed, such as promoting safer tracheostomy care.

The report has been published as part of the NHS Reset campaign and gives examples of how PSCs refocused their work ‘almost overnight’ to respond to the pandemic. It illustrates some of the creative ways AHSNs supported their local systems and how this experience will be built into future patient safety programmes.

Natasha Swinscoe, lead AHSN Network chief officer for patient safety, said:

‘AHSNs and PSCs have a unique ability to connect people, and work at both system level and with individual organisations to swiftly capitalise on opportunities. As we consider the health and care reset, I hope we have learned from the last few months to be brave and understand that transformation can start small and grow quickly when the right factors are in place.’

Cheryl Crocker, AHSN Patient Safety Director, said:

‘Most of us will never have experienced anything this challenging in our professional lives. PSCs are just one part of the system which has played their part in a national emergency. This time in our history is unprecedented and the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a number of positive changes. Cycles of change have been accelerated in order to make care safer for patients.’

PSCs are funded and nationally coordinated by NHS England and NHS Improvement, and hosted locally by the Academic Health Science Networks (AHSNs). They make a significant contribution to the NHS Patient Safety Strategy, through the PSCs’ work supporting the delivery of the National Patient Safety Improvement Programmes and the AHSNs’ focus on accelerating innovation.

Download the report.

You can also find out more about our patient safety work and information and resources on patient safety during COVID-19 .

  • Prevention may be the cure, but innovation the best course of treatment

    Dr Cheryl Crocker, interim Chief Operating Officer at the Health Innovation Network, explains the vital role innovation plays to not only reduce waiting lists and improve access to care, but to decrease system pressure by improving people’s health and keeping them well for longer.  The new Government has rightly declared its focus on moving the [...]

  • Meet the innovator: Jez Ellerd-Styles, SiSU Health UK

    Launched in 2014, SiSU Health is scaling early warning, self-service health kiosks, digital platforms and pathways into pre-existing healthcare services. The British Heart Foundation estimates the annual cardiovascular disease (CVD) related costs to the UK healthcare system are around £10 billion, with annual costs to the UK economy of an estimated £25 billion. Making the [...]

  • Meet the innovator: Nick Hartshorne-Evans, The Pumping Marvellous Foundation

    BEAT HF is the first UK-wide disease awareness campaign for heart failure and is targeted at the public and primary care healthcare professionals. Professor Clare Taylor, Nick Hartshorne-Evans, and Dr Dargoi Satchi developed BEAT to improve awareness of heart failure through early recognition of common symptoms. The acronym BEAT leads to testing using a commonly [...]