The authors of this book set out a system of safety strategies and interventions for managing
patient safety on a day-to-day basis and improving safety over the long term. These strategies
are applicable at all levels of the healthcare system from the frontline to the regulation and
governance of the system.There have been many advances in patient safety but we now need a new
and broader vision that encompasses care throughout the patient's journey. The authors argue
that we need to see safety through the patient's eyes to consider how safety is managed in
different contexts and to develop a wider strategic and practical vision in which patient
safety is recast as the management of risk over time. Most safety improvement strategies aim to
improve reliability and move closer toward optimal care. However healthcare will always be
under pressure and we also require ways of managing safety when conditions are difficult. We
need to make more use of strategies concerned with detecting controlling managing and
responding to risk. Strategies for managing safety in highly standardised and controlled
environments are necessarily different from those in which clinicians constantly have to adapt
and respond to changing circumstances. This work is supported by the Health Foundation. The
Health Foundation is an independent charity committed to bringing about better health and
health care for people in the UK. The charity's aim is a healthier population in the UK
supported by high quality health care that can be equitably accessed. The Foundation carries
out policy analysis and makes grants to front-line teams to try ideas in practice and supports
research into what works to make people's lives healthier and improve the health care system
with a particular emphasis on how to make successful change happen. A key part of the work is
to make links between the knowledge of those working to deliver health and health care with
research evidence and analysis. The aspiration is to create a virtuous circle using what works
on the ground to inform effective policymaking and vice versa. Good health and health care are
vital for a flourishing society. Through sharing what is known collaboration and building
people's skills and knowledge the Foundation aims to make a difference and contribute to a
healthier population.
