Patient Safety

Practical information, tools and support to improve patient safety in the NHS

We receive confidential reports of patient safety incidents from healthcare staff across England and Wales. Clinicians and safety experts analyse these reports to identify common risks to patients and opportunities to improve patient safety.

We work with organisations providing NHS care, colleges and professional groups to set priorities and develop and disseminate actionable learning. Resources include:

Patient safety alerts, including Rapid Response Reports
Seven Steps series of patient safety guides
Regular feedback on the data we collect
Safety information on specific topics, such as safety of medicines.

Transfer of Patient Safety function to the NHS Commissioning Board Special Health Authority

On 1 June 2012 the key functions and expertise for patient safety developed by the National Patient Safety Agency (NPSA) transferred to the NHS Commissioning Board Special Health Authority.

The NHS Commissioning Board Special Health Authority will harness the power of the National Reporting and Learning System (NRLS), the world’s most comprehensive database of patient safety information, to identify and tackle important patient safety issues at their root cause.

Further information