This report is based on research funded by the National Institute for Health Research and carried out by a team from Manchester, York and Birmingham universities. The report examines how NHS and private hospitals work together, and makes several findings and recommendations in relation to quality and safety of care, with the aim of informing future policy and practice.
Responding to the report, Dr Rosie Benneyworth, Interim Chief Executive said:
“This new research provides an important insight into the increasingly interconnected relationship between NHS and privately provided healthcare and shines a light on the patient safety risks that can occur when information does not follow a patient across organisational boundaries and into different sectors of care.
“The quality and safety of care should not be dependent on patients staying in one place or pathway. Individual systems and processes to keep people safe can be designed well for organisations but unless they reflect the reality of cross-boundary care, then the more likely it is that patients could experience serious complications and severe harm.
“The Paterson Inquiry highlighted the devastating consequences when information, oversight and accountability are fragmented. Six years on, the continued challenges identified in this report, including the lack of implementation of key recommendations from the inquiry, underline why healthcare needs a joined up, systematic and proactive approach to identifying, understanding and managing risk.
“The report is also a timely reminder that quality and safety are closely connected but they are not the same. Good outcomes and positive quality measures don’t always mean that risks are being effectively managed. Both approaches need to work together – that can mean organisations sharing information effectively, understanding risk across the whole patient pathway and learning collectively, rather than allowing organisational boundaries to create gaps in oversight.
“We welcome the report’s recommendations, which provide an important opportunity to close the gaps that can emerge between NHS and independent healthcare, and strengthen collaboration. Ultimately patients should expect a good quality of care and that risks to their safety are identified, understood and managed effectively, regardless of where their care is provided.”
Related articles
