Commission on Education and Training for Patient Safety

HEE Request for evidence –

Commission on Education and Training for Patient Safety

Response from The Royal College of Radiologists

§ Is your organisation active in patient safety improvement and if so what are your priorities?

Patient safety is perceived as being of paramount importance and the RCR promotes patient safety both through our training curricula and through our professional practice activities.

For our specialties of clinical radiology and clinical oncology there are two main aspects to patient safety considerations: the technical understanding of the risks associated with the use of ionising radiation and other diagnostic and treatment modalities; and the importance of non-technical human factors.

Our training curricula in both specialties have a strong emphasis on radiation safety and protection. They also include numerous references to patient safety and quality improvement within the generic content.

“READ – Radiology Errors and Discrepancies”, is a confidential system for sharing incidents, events and discrepancies in radiology, accessible to all members and Fellows of the RCR. It is designed to be a learning tool to support best practice and to contribute to improved patient safety.

Following discussions this year with other colleges & experts the RCR is developing a strategy for teaching and promoting Human Factors & Non-Technical Skills.

The RCR produces a range of publications including standards for the delivery of high-quality services and guidance on good practice, for example:

·  Standards for Learning from Discrepancies meetings - BFCR(14)11 This document provides guidance on the running and requirements of Learning from discrecpancies meetings.

·  Quality assurance in radiology reporting: peer feedback - BFCR(14)10 This document gives guidance on how peer feedback may be used as a component of a quality assurance reporting programme.

·  Cancer Multidisciplinary Team Meetings – Standards for Clinical Radiologists - BFCR(14)15 This document outlines the requirement for consultant radiologists and radiology departments to maximise the benefit of MDTMs.

§ What do you think about current patient safety education and training of healthcare staff?

Our perception is that clinical knowledge & technical skills tend to be prioritised over generic aspects & non-technical skills. There is often little or no formal training in these aspects.

§ What are the main barriers for healthcare staff in ensuring safe care and what can be done to overcome these barriers?

Pressure of work and ensuring safe & appropriate staffing levels is a factor, particularly for both our specialties where we have shortages of consultants and workforce numbers lower than other comparable health economies.

Communication – rapid accurate communication of information; requires named person & point of access

§ What are the main challenges to replicating and scaling-up best practice to improve patient safety?

Changing culture and establishing buy-in from the whole workforce

§ What are the main patient safety priorities for education and training in the future?

·  Communications training

·  Simulation

·  Teamworking

·  Team delivered priorities & continuous improvement