The toolkit consists of a range of ‘tools’ that can be used to provide a multifaceted assessment of patient safety in practices. The tools range from an online ‘safety climate’ survey, to several different types of ‘audit’ that identify safety problems and enable practices to put these right. A brand-new survey has been developed that assesses patients’ reported experiences of safety in general practices. The toolkit has been implemented in 50 general practices across England has received positive feedback.
The research team has recently applied to the RCGP Spotlight Project competition to create a website to host the patient safety toolkit so that it can be available to all general practices. Out of 10 applications, the project is one of three selected to go forward with RCGP support over the coming year. The initiative will also to be supported by the NIHR Greater Manchester Primary Care Patient Safety Translational Research Centre.
I'm delighted that SPCR funding has enabled us to create the patient safety toolkit, and that we now have opportunity for this to be made available at large scale through the RCGP. This will provide a really helpful resource for general practices to identify and tackle patient safety issues."
- Professor Tony Avery, project lead