title: Patient safety: the need for an open and fair culture.
abstract: Intermittent failures of healthcare delivery culminating in patient safety incidents are an international problem. Collecting information on incidents and where necessary analysing causes allows problems to be identified which, when resolved, can prevent future errors and incidents. To support incident reporting, it is vital to have an effective data collecting system and, in addition, an open and fair culture where those who report are supported and not punished. Where this has been introduced, large numbers of incidents are identified and solutions that improve patient safety can be implemented.
authors.affiliation: National Patient Safety Agency, London. dmarchant@hhnt.nhs.uk
authors.forename: Rory
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Shaw
mesh_terms: D004650:Employee Performance Appraisal; D006272:Health Facility Environment / Q000458:organization & administration; D006801:Humans; D015279:Organizational Culture; D011641:Public Relations; D017751:Safety Management / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006113:United Kingdom