Working with our patients to keep them safe

Sunday was World Patient Safety Day, and this year’s theme from the World Healthcare Organisation asks us to ‘elevate the voice of patients.’ The great news is that we now have two of our own patients helping us do just that, in newly created volunteer roles as patient safety partners.  

It is important that we listen to what our patients and families share with us about their experience of the care they receive as it allows us to learn and continue to improve our services.  

The new roles are being introduced as part of the new national Patient Safety Incident Response Framework (PSIRF), the NHSE initiative launching across the country later this month. PSIRF provides a framework for us to investigate and learn from serious incidents through open conversation with patients and their families, whilst offering support to our own colleagues who are involved, replacing the previous Serious Incident investigations. 

Both of our new Patient Safety Partners have had experience as patients who were cared for by EEAST staff. They will work with us and be the voice of patients and families in their communities. They will help us to shape our services and be a ‘critical friend’ bringing patient and family experiences to us in order to understand the best ways to improve what we do.   

You can find more information about how our we work with our volunteers, and the opportunities we offer in our Volunteer Role Brochure.  

Published 19th September 2023