Reflections on World Patient Safety Day - “Improving diagnosis for patient safety”

Patient safety remains the number one priority for all independent healthcare providers, and World Patient Safety Day – set up by the World Health Organisation to “bring about global solidarity and concerted action to improve patient safety” – is always a fantastic opportunity to reflect on what is happening in the sector to ensure patients get the best possible care.

This year’s theme is “Improving diagnosis for patient safety”with the slogan“Get it right, make it safe!” – highlighting the critical importance of correct and timely diagnosis in ensuring patient safety and improving health outcomes.

This is a hugely important, albeit often overlooked, element of patient safety. Indeed, you can’t provide safe, high quality treatment without an accurate diagnosis. And getting that diagnosis requires amongst other things, an accurate clinical history, timely tests and investigations and two-way communication between the clinician and the patient and/or their representative.

One of the most obvious areas is of course the need to effectively communicate with patients their diagnosis and ongoing treatment, something that is particularly key when it comes to working with patients with serious conditions such as cancer.

There is some fantastic work taking place in the independent sector around improving communication with patients. Oncology nurses and Healthcare Assistants at Spire Healthcare for example, have recently been undertaking Advanced Communications Skills Training which aims to develop colleagues’ communication skills when working with cancer patients – particularly when a difficult diagnosis needs to be shared – something which can make such a tremendous difference to both the recipient and the professional.

Advancements in technology and digital healthcare and delivering new models of healthcare are equally supporting our members to improve diagnostic safety. For example, Homelink, through their virtual ward pathway, are enabling patients to be equipped with wearable devices that continuously monitor their health metrics – helping ensure early detection of concerns that might otherwise go unnoticed. This proactive approach allows them to diagnose potential issues before they escalate, providing timely interventions that can prevent more serious health complications. A 24/7 clinical on-call service is also available, ensuring that both patients and hospital teams have access to immediate support whenever needed – enabling any emerging concerns to be addressed immediately.

On a more sector wide basis, the independent sector, along with our colleagues in the NHS, are working to implement “Martha’s Rule” – enabling patients and families to seek round-the-clock access to a rapid review from a separate care team if they are worried about a person’s condition. This follows the family of Martha Mills campaigning to help improve the care of patients experiencing acute deterioration. Martha Mills sadly died aged 13 in 2021 from sepsis at  King’s College Hospital, after her family’s concerns about Martha’s deteriorating condition were not responded to promptly. Studies repeatedly show that when patients have agency and are fully listened to, there are clear reductions in harm from missed or delayed diagnosis – something Martha’s Rule will help further embed.

This is just a very small snapshot looking into the many ways in which independent providers are improving diagnostic safety (not least the world class scanning and imaging technology that is a feature across the sector). And with 94% of our members rated good or outstanding by the CQC, we are a sector always ambitious to do more and ever improve the safety and quality of care we provide to millions of patients every day. This World Patient Safety Day will be reflecting on exactly how we can do that .