The Academic Health Science Network’s (AHSN) plan for patient safety demonstrates our commitment to working in partnership to support the delivery of the NHS Patient Safety Strategy: Safer culture, safer systems, safer patients published in 2019.

We highlight some of our successes at bringing together innovators and improvers, including Q members in the work we have delivered so far; describing how we have achieved this and the lessons we learned along the way. As a well-established network, we will continue to contribute towards the aims of the national strategy and our plan outlines how we will achieve this.

Our local Q community are essential to help meet this goal. AHSNs support the recruitment and development of Q, and many Q members will be working closely with their local AHSN and the Patient Safety Collaboratives (PSCs) they host. They become the improvers and innovators of the future.

As a well-established network, we will continue to contribute towards the aims of the national strategy and our plan outlines how we will achieve this. Our local Q community are essential to help meet this goal.

The National Patient Safety Collaborative Programme was established by NHS Improvement in April 2014 in response to findings from the Berwick review: A promise to learn – a commitment to act. The aim was to build a culture of safety, continuous learning and improvement to achieve a continual reduction of harm, so patients and the public can be confident that care is safer.

Even before the Patient Safety Collaboratives (PSCs) were launched, The AHSN Network had identified the safety of service delivery as a key priority in many of their early workstreams. This resulted in a number of evidence-based improvement initiatives, which have since been adopted as PSC programmes for national roll-out as well as providing foundations for new PSC work.

Patient safety is a central priority and guiding principle for all AHSNs. It is the lens through which we look and is embedded in all we do across an inter-connected landscape that aims to improve the safety of services for all users of the health and care system.

The NHS Patient Safety Strategy acknowledges the work of the PSCs: ‘Building on the work of the last five years, the revised national patient safety improvement programme (NPSIP, previously referred to as NPSCP), supported by the Patient Safety Collaboratives (PSCs) across England that are commissioned through and hosted by the 15 Academic Health Science Networks (AHSNs), will be a key improvement and delivery arm of the NHS Patient Safety Strategy.’

Patient safety is a central priority and guiding principle for all AHSNs. It is the lens through which we look and is embedded in all we do across an inter-connected landscape that aims to improve the safety of services for all users of the health and care system. To do this successfully we must actively involve patients, carers and the public in all aspects of patient safety work.

AHSNs are system orchestrators, connecting parts of the system that would otherwise not connect; we are neutral brokers that span boundaries. Our track record of delivering programmes that make a real difference has earned the respect and engagement of our local stakeholders. This is central to our success and continues to underpin the improvements in patient safety and quality of services we strive for.

You can download ‘Patient safety in partnership: Our plan for a safer future 2019-2025’. We are committed to supporting the Q community, and if you would like to know more or get involved, please contact your local AHSN. You’ll find the details in the plan.