New patient safety training materials launched

New patient safety training materials have been published by Health Education England, NHS England and NHS Improvement, The Academy of Medical Royal Colleges and elearning for healthcare, elements of which are expected to be completed by NHS employees, even those in roles which are not patient facing. Completion of the training will help to ensure health and care services are as safe as possible for patients and service users.

The training materials can be found on the elearning for healthcare hub. The training has five levels, which build on each other, the first two levels Essentials for patient safety and Access to practice being made available today. The first level, Essentials for patient safety, is the starting point and all NHS staff are encouraged to complete it. Level two, Access to practice is intended for those who have an interest in understanding more about patient safety and those who want to go on to access the higher levels of training.

The training has been devised following the publication of the NHS Patient Safety Strategy which contains a patient safety syllabus. The syllabus sets out a new approach to patient safety emphasising a proactive approach to identifying risks to safe care while also including systems thinking and human factors, all of which has been incorporated into the training.

Levels three to five of the training are expected to be available by the end of March 2022