The safety of our patients is paramount, and we have robust measures in place to protect those in our care and ensure we are doing all we can to keep our patients safe and harm-free. 

Patient safety standards are embedded in the design and delivery of our care. We encourage the early detection and reporting of patient safety concerns, and learning from any incidents where something has gone wrong. 

Patient safety standards are monitored and reported to the Trust Board on a monthly basis. We also report on our performance against key patient safety priorities in the annual Quality Account. 

Read more below about how we work to ensure people’s safety. 

We work hard to deliver harm-free care for every patient, every time, everywhere, but when patient safety incidents do occur, it is vital that we recognise them and learn from them. We encourage the swift and accurate reporting of adverse incidents and expect our staff to report any patient safety issues they may have concerns about. 

All patient safety incidents are reported to the nation NHS Learning from Patient Safety Events (LFPSE) service and the Care Quality Commission, as well as to the Trust Board. This data is then analysed to identify potential hazards, risks and opportunities which can help us improve the safety of our patient care. 

Read our Patient Safety Incident Framework (PSIRF) plan, which sets out how we will translate learning from incident responses into measurable, systemic recommendations and actions to improve patient care.  

We have an on-going programme of ‘quality walkarounds’, in which members of our Trust Board and governors visit teams across the organisation to speak to staff and hear first-hand about their experiences.  

These walk-arounds promote a safety-oriented culture, and ensure our senior leaders visibly demonstrate their commitment to safety by listening to and supporting staff when issues are raised. 

A report is provided to the nursing and quality team following these visits, which then: 

  • ensures that feedback and observations from the visits are reported to the Quality Governance Committee. 

  • makes sure any areas of good practice or significant concerns are reflected in our annual Board Quality Report 

  • monitors progress on all actions to ensure they are fully implemented. 

In common with other NHS organisations, we publish figures on planned and actual nursing staffing levels on our hospital wards. The figures are made available on a monthly basis, and enable patients, families and the wider public to see how we are meeting our staffing commitments. 

It is vital to our patients' experience that we have the right number of staff with the right skills at all times. This can sometimes be challenging for a number of reasons, such as staff sickness, holidays or difficulties in filling vacancies. 

Monthly Care Hours Per Patient Day (CHPPD) data can be accessed at NHS England » Care hours per patient day (CHPPD) data. 

Staffing reports are available on request – please contact the safer staffing team via dhc.safestaffingteam@nhs.net.