News

Chief Nursing Officer and National Director of Patient Safety Welcome Berwick Report

NHS England’s Chief Nursing Officer Jane Cummings, and National Director for Patient Safety, Dr Mike Durkin, today welcomed the publication of the Berwick Report and pledged further action to make the NHS the safest healthcare system in the world

Professor Don Berwick, a renowned international expert in patient safety, was asked by the Prime Minister to carry out an independent review following the publication of the Francis Report into the breakdown of care at Mid Staffordshire Hospitals.

In her blog on the NHS England website, Jane Cummings writes: “The Berwick Report clearly identifies the importance of constant vigilance, monitoring and learning to make sure our patients do not come to any kind of avoidable harm. We need to actively seek out the views of patients and staff, and work hard to build a culture of openness, honesty and support so that no stone is left unturned in the pursuit of patient safety.”

In his own blog, Dr Mike Durkin adds: “The publication of the Berwick Report, and also the Keogh Review before it, demonstrates just how far the discipline of patient safety has come over the past decade. Not too long ago patient safety was seen as an “add-on”. Now patient safety is truly mainstreamed.”