Patient Safety Incident Response Framework (PSIRF)

Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospital NHS Trust is implementing the NHS Patient Safety Incident Response Framework (PISRF).

Patient Safety Incident Response Framework Plan (PSIRP) sets out Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospital NHS Trust’s approach to the way that patient safety incidents are responded to and how patient safety investigations are undertaken in NHS funded care.

This plan helps the Trust to identify our most significant patient safety risks and make sure they are fully investigated according to the proper standards and that we learn from them.

The PSIRP was co-developed with input from colleagues across the Trust, local commissioners, the national patient safety team and other stakeholders. It is founded upon the key aim of promoting a just culture, providing staff with a psychologically safe space to discuss and learn from events and proactively reduce the risk of harm.

It embeds patient safety incident response within a wider system of improvement and prompts a significant cultural shift towards systematic patient safety management.

This policy supports and promotes the four key aims of the PSIRF:

• Compassionate engagement and involvement of those affected by patient safety incidents

• Application of a range of system-based approaches to learning from patient safety incidents

• Considered and proportionate responses to patient safety incidents and safety issues

• Supportive oversight focused on strengthening system functioning and improvement.

The introduction of PSIRF forms part of our commitment to delivering 5 - Star Patient Care by embedding a culture of safety improvement that reduces harm, improves outcome, and enhances patient experiences. We will also learn from mistakes and near misses and use patient feedback to enhance delivery of care.