Humber Teaching NHS Foundation Trust's First Patient Safety Conference Held in June

This year, Humber Teaching NHS Foundation Trust held its first ever Patient Safety Conference, highlighting innovation and demonstrating how highly the Trust prioritises patient safety within our services.

The Trust values underpinned the entire event – Caring, Learning and Growing together. Sarah Smyth, Executive Director of Nursing, Quality and Professions, opened the event by sharing that ‘Patient safety doesn’t just sit alongside these values, it is about how we bring them to life every day within our work”.

Throughout the day attendees heard from speakers who maintained a focus on ‘psychological safety’ and its value in our working practices. In a psychologically safe environment staff feel supported to raise examples of where work can be improved and when work has been exemplary. This builds a safe and open culture which is vital for patient safety. Sarah Smyth summed it up well by saying, “When our staff feel supported, our patients receive safer care”.

Andrew Murphy-Pittock, Deputy Director of System Partnership and Programme Design at the Health Services Safety Investigations Body (HSSIB), provided attendees with an understanding of how his team advise on wider national issues and investigate how improvements can be made.

He shared a well-known quote which captures how HSSIB work to learn how problems occur so they can address the causes, “There comes a point where we need to stop just pulling people out of the river. We need to go upstream and find out why they’re falling in”.

HSSIB carry out independent patient safety investigations and provide recommendations for improvements, with a focus on human factors and systems thinking.

The second speaker was Becky Thomas, Founder of Curious Collaborators, she shared her perspectives on psychological safety in healthcare and leadership. Becky acknowledged the importance of creating a culture which allows and encourages staff to speak up, as it will only happen in psychologically safe organisations. She encouraged all staff to use their voice and Freedom to Speak Up where necessary, stating, “Courage is not a skill, courage is a decision”.

The next session was led by Sadie Milner, Head of Nursing and Patient Safety Specialist at the Trust. She shared thoughts on Safety 1 and Safety 2 which look at learning from both the less positive experiences and sharing best practice. This led on to an interactive tabletop exercise which groups used to share unique examples of where daily practice had gone ‘right’ or made a dramatic improvement for patients.

The examples were shared across the room and included the introduction of safety pods on a ward for less restrictive practice and a phlebotomy initiative for patients with learning disabilities refusing blood tests.

One of the most powerful sessions came from Kim and her mum Adele. Kim is now an Activity Coordinator at one of the Trusts inpatient units, and brings her lived experience to the role having previously been a service user with the Trust. Kim and Adele shared their personal experience of being mother and daughter navigating the healthcare system. As her mum, Adele advocates for consistent and open communication between clinicians and families and highlighted how this directly impacts patient safety. This moving presentation from Kim and Adele left every attendee in no doubt that communication is key.

The final session was facilitated by Sam Faine, Head of Nursing, Physical Health and Assurance, who talked from the perspective of Professional Nurse Advocates (PNA) to attendees about how to look after yourself in a clinical role.

The conference highlighted the exceptional work of services within the Trust and how they are prioritising patient safety every day. It was a chance to learn from external speakers who emphasised how important psychological safety and a learning culture is within organisations.