Improving patient safety with the Blackpool Safety Barometer virtual dashboard 

Addressing disparities in health outcomes is a key priority for Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. It serves areas with some of the poorest health outcomes and lowest life expectancy in England. 

The Safety Culture Programme and the Blackpool Safety Barometer dashboard are steps towards improving health care for patients in these deprived areas.

The dashboard incorporates a range of specific metrics to monitor patient safety and staff-related data. These measures include: 

Patient feedback: friends and family test scores and compliments and complaints 

Staff data: staff turnover, mandatory training compliance and staff sickness absence 

Patient harms: category 2–4 pressure ulcers, preventable incidents that serve as an indicator of quality of care; falls; medication errors and other incidents. 

These measures provide a comprehensive view of patient safety across multiple dimensions. They enable frontline teams and stakeholders to monitor trends, identify areas for improvement, and take targeted actions to enhance patient safety outcomes. 

Collaborative approach

The project team collaborated with the Business Intelligence team to collate the necessary data, bringing key stakeholders together from teams across the trust including Performance, Clinical Audit, HR, Patient Experience, Patient Relations, and Risk and Infection Control.

These multi-disciplinary teams were supported and encouraged to develop and use their own customised dashboards based on their specific priorities for improving safety.

This allowed teams to focus on indicators relevant to their area of expertise, such as surgical site infections for a surgical ward or cardiac arrests for a cardiology ward.

Early in the project the team found that the format and scope of data needed was not housed in one location but on many different systems. A new database was needed to hold the information required in one place. 

Other early challenges were related to the complexity of data flows through different systems and understanding who collects and controls certain data. 

In addition, the trust’s data visualisation platform allowed for only a limited range of statistical process control data types. These were insufficient, restricting teams’ abilities to identify patterns, trends, and areas for improvement. 

The project resulted in several key project outputs that contribute to enhancing patient safety and promoting a culture of continuous improvement. These include: 

• the development and implementation of the Blackpool Safety Barometer dashboard
• the establishment of a robust database 
• the creation of Standard Operating Procedures 
• comprehensive training, workshops, and demonstrations. 

The initial work invested in design and development has laid a solid foundation for its expansion to other areas within the trust. 

Safety metrics in real time 

The Blackpool Safety Barometer dashboard serves as a centralised platform where staff members can access and monitor various safety metrics in real time. 

It provides a user-friendly interface that allows users to navigate through indicators, customise metrics, and interpret data in an easily understandable format, enabling informed decision-making.

  A foundation for future data use 

To support the Blackpool Safety Barometer, necessary information was collected and stored in a robust database. This enabled efficient data retrieval and integration, addressing the challenge of data accessibility. 

It also provided a foundation for future data management, analysis and the ability to scale. 

Promoting a culture of safety 

The Standard Operating Procedures, co-produced by the project’s expert faculty and a multi-disciplinary team, provides staff members with guidelines on utilising the dashboard effectively. 

Feedback from staff members emphasises the positive impact and benefits of the project, highlighting reduced stress, improved readiness for regulatory visits and ease of access to relevant information. 

Empowering teams for meaningful change 

The full value and impact of the dashboard will become evident over time as frontline teams actively engage with the tool. 

Supporting teams to detect patterns, trends, and potential risks will enable them to implement proactive measures to prevent patient harm and improve overall safety outcomes. 

The dashboard’s ability to empower multi-disciplinary teams to define their own aims and safety indicators make it a powerful catalyst for driving meaningful change at the local level. 

Data flows and control are often complex 

Understanding the pathways through which data is collected and controlled by different departments proved challenging. This complexity hindered the data collection process. 

Extensive collaboration and coordination among stakeholders was needed to ensure accurate and timely data integration into the Blackpool Safety Barometer dashboard. 

Engaging key stakeholders is essential 

The project highlighted the importance of engaging with key stakeholders and ensuring their active involvement throughout the process. A lack of engagement from the outset with the project’s executive sponsors slowed the team’s progress. 

Establishing clear lines of communication, providing regular updates and seeking their input and feedback are essential to ensure that projects remains on track. 

Keep frontline staff in focus  

In hindsight, a decision to select two non-ward areas for participation in the project negatively affected progress and engagement with the participating wards. Non-ward areas often have unique workflows, processes, and safety considerations that differ significantly from ward areas. 

Sticking to ward areas could have helped the team better align the project’s objectives and initiatives with the daily operations and challenges faced by frontline staff, fostering greater ownership, participation, and engagement. 

A sense of ownership is crucial 

Ensuring that all stakeholders feel a sense of ownership and responsibility for the success of the project is essential. 

Effective communication, involvement in decision-making processes and providing opportunities for input and feedback throughout the project lifecycle are good ways to do this.