On the 30th November 2015, the Patient Safety Group used its inaugural Patient Safety Forum to debate core principles for patient safety incident reporting and learning across the community pharmacy network. The core principles will subsequently be adopted and embedded into organisational policies across the sector, aiming to improve patient safety in community pharmacy.
The Patient Safety Forum, supported by Pharmacy Voice and Teva UK, was an opportunity to share best practice across community pharmacy and other sectors and meet with key healthcare stakeholders within the NHS and beyond to develop a shared vision for patient safety improvement. Around 100 delegates gathered to hear speakers including:
- Suzette Woodward, NHS Campaign Director for Sign up to Safety
- Rose Marie Parr, Chief Pharmaceutical Officer for Scotland
- Carey Edwards, an aeronautical safety expert
The Forum showcased the work of the Group in its first year and outlined plans for the year ahead. These plans included the launch of a survey targeting all community pharmacy staff. Respondents were asked for anonymous feedback on the current patient safety incident reporting and learning processes in place within pharmacies as well as the workplace culture around patient safety. The Group aimed to use the survey to help identify all of the obstacles which prevent open and honest reporting of patient safety incidents.
On the event, Janice Perkins, Chair of the Patient Safety Group commented: “The Patient Safety Group’s insights, passion and determination to improve patient safety has led to fantastic collaboration and learning on how all parts of the community pharmacy network ensure optimum safety for their patients. One of the commitments Pharmacy Voice made when we joined the NHS’s Sign up to Safety campaign was that we would share learnings across the sector. The Patient Safety Forum will do just that. We have a fantastic line up of speakers and delegates and we will make the most of the opportunity to agree the core reporting and learning principles that can help to guide all those working in the community pharmacy network.”
Community Pharmacy Patient Safety Group 