NGH marks first ever World Patient Safety Day

The patient safety team

Northampton General Hospital have been championing patient safety and highlighting the importance of speaking up for patient safety with a series of events at the hospital to mark the first ever World Patient Safety Day.

The worldwide event, organised by the World Health Organisation, is focused on empowering patients and staff to Speak Up For Patient Safety and highlight safe care globally. Hospitals from around the world are taking part with different events and pledging to make patient safety their priority.

To mark the occasion in Northampton, teams from around the hospital have come together to share safety successes and educate members of the public and staff about how they can keep themselves and their patients safe. The events are running until Friday 20^th September in the Cyber Café on Hospital Street.

Staff and visitors can come along and access information, training and advice on; basic life support, sepsis guidance and education, medication safety, maternity, manual handling, medical staffing, falls prevention, governance, prostate and bladder screening advice, , sexual health, stop smoking support, health and wellbeing, medical devices, weight and blood pressure checks, personal safety from Northamptonshire Police.

Dr Sonia Swart, Chief Executive, pledged her support for the campaign and formally launched the event to staff on Tuesday. “We’ve been hosting our own patient safety events at the hospital for over 10 years, so it is fantastic see it being recognised globally with this formal event from the World Health Organisation. As technology and medicine have developed we’ve seen our focus on safety grow, and it remains at the heart of everything we do. Our teams take ownership of patient safety and we’re proud that our staff at all levels feel confident to bring forward new ideas and champion safe patient care.

“For me patient safety means that we are making sure that our patients get access to the best available treatment, avoid harm and error in the care that we give, and that we support our teams to treat each other and our patients with kindness and respect”.

Medical Director, Matt Metcalfe, explained why events like these are so important: “To me patient safety is something which we know our staff take a keen interest in and strive to do their best for our patients. Patient safety is something which we all take very seriously, and having these opportunities to share and learn from each other is key to keeping patient safety at the forefront of our care.

“To me patient safety means not only caring for our patients but also looking out for the wellbeing of our staff. We know that by supporting each other and being honest about when things don’t go right we are able to provide better care for patients”.

The events will continue throughout the week. More information on World Patient Safety Day can be found on the World Health Organisation website.