“The Lord Darzi review is a sobering read and shows much change is needed across the NHS. The safety of patients and the safety of staff is directly affected when services are in a critical state, and we have seen examples of systemic failures through the investigations that we have undertaken, as HSSIB and HSIB.
“The report makes reference to the patient voice not being loud enough and we agree that patient voices, and those of their families and carers are vital to improving people’s experiences and the quality and safety of care being provided to them. We also recognise Lord Darzi’s assessment on the engagement and exhaustion of NHS staff and have seen how this can impact patient safety through many of our investigations. Empowering patients and ensuring effective engagement with patients, carers, families, and staff is crucial. We will continue to embed this into our work and share our expertise across the health service.
“We strongly believe that any reform within the NHS should include a more proactive approach to safety management and safety culture. We should learn from other industries that have embedded safety management systems with an open and transparent approach to ensure safety is the number one priority.
“It is positive that Lord Darzi highlights the need for major change at a system level. We believe that a focus on system factors, rather than examining individual human error leads to a much better culture of continuous learning and improvement.”
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