Quality improvement and patient safety
The field of patient safety is the coordinated effort to prevent harm, caused by the process of health care itself, from occurring to patients.
We aim to determine the frequency, burden and preventability of healthcare associated harm in primary and emergency care settings, and to develop and implement interventions to improve patient safety in priority areas.
We host a team of health services researchers and academic clinicians with expertise for:
- investigating the frequency and avoidability of significant harm in healthcare, with particular expertise in primary care, secure environments and end-of-life care contexts
- methodological innovation for identifying, structuring and sharing learning from patient safety incidents within (national) and between countries (international), including the development of classification systems and taxonomy
- evaluating the development and implementation of interventions using mixed methods to minimise harm to patients in health and social care settings.
Current projects
| Project | Funder |
|---|---|
| Development and testing of the PAtient SafeTy risk Assessment (PASTA) tool to maximise learning from patient safety incidents in healthcare organisations | ESRC |
| Effects of shielding for Vulnerable people during COVID-19 pandemic on health outcomes, costs and Immunity including those with cancer: quasiexperimenTal Evaluation (EVITE Immunity) | National Core Studies, UKRI |
| Significant avoidable harm in prison health services | NIHR Policy Research Programme |
| Evaluation of patient-reported safety concerns during the COVID-19 pandemic | PRIME Centre |
Collaborations
We host a collaboration with other Cardiff University schools called the Welsh Ergonomics and Safer Patients Alliance (WESPA), an interdisciplinary group of researchers (Cardiff Business School, School of Engineering, School of Dentistry) and clinicians undertaking research and service evaluation to enable innovation and implementation of practices to improve patient safety in healthcare.
We also collaborate closely with the Opthalmic Public Health Group at the School of Optometry and Vision Sciences.
Researchers
Honorary staff
| Prof Sir Liam Donaldson, Distinguished Honorary Professor, Cardiff University and Professor of Public Health, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine |
| Dr Sarah Yardley, Honorary Senior Research Fellow, Cardiff University and Honorary Senior Clinical Lecturer, University College London |
| Dr Ben Bowers, Honorary Research Fellow, Cardiff University and Research Fellow, University of Cambridge |
| Dr Sally-Anne Francis, Honorary Research Fellow, Cardiff University and Postdoctoral Research Fellow, University College London |
| Dr Philippa Rees, Honorary Lecturer, Cardiff University and Clinical Research Fellow, University College London |
| Dr Kate Davies, Honorary Research Fellow, Cardiff University |
| Dr Ian Bennett-Britton, Honorary Research Fellow and Wellcome Trust Clinical PhD Fellow, University of Southampton |
Our research creates benefits across health, society and the economy.
