“A first class service”, Subsequent to the government’s White Paper, “The new NHS – Modern and dependable”, places clinical risk reduction programmes and critical incident reporting as central to clinical governance.
Click on this web link to read the White Paper ‘A first class service’ July 1998.
Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations (Northern Ireland) (2000) based on the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations (1999) and requires employers to risk manage all work activities for their impact on employees and anyone else affected.It also require employers to carry out risk assessments, make arrangements to implement necessary measures appoint competent people and arrange or appropriate information and raining in the various fields.
Why is risk management an essential part of modern Health Care?
· Enhances the quality of treatment and care services provided for patients.
· Provide safer environments for staff.
· Improves public confidence and a Trust’s reputation.
· Helps learn from mistakes, near misses, inquiries and cases.
· Encourages a culture of openness in staff at all levels.
· Reduce the cost of litigation www.nhsla.com
An organisation that reports incidents is not necessarily a failing organisation nor does it mean it is unsafe - rather the opposite may be true i.e. the organisation may have achieved more in terms of supporting an open and learning culture, leading to staff monitoring and being comfortable to report risks.
Read: Protection from Harassment (Northern Ireland) Order 1997 www.legislation.gov.uk/nisi/1997 This statue is more commonly referred to as the ‘whistle-blowing’ legislation as it set in place mechanisms by which employees could reveal dangerous practices within workplaces and achieve some protection for the disclosure. It also attempted to eradicate the gagging clauses favoured by the conservative government under Margaret Thatcher.
As regards Nurses and Midwives, the Nursing and Midwifery Council in 2010 issued and advisory document to complement and advise on ‘whistle-blowing’ activity called ‘Raising and escalating concern: Guidance for nurses and midwives (NMC 2010).
You should read and make notes on the pdf below
Raising and Escalating concerns
Required reading
Eleanor J Sullivan, Gayle Garland. (2010) Practical Leadership and Management in Nursing Pub. Pearson. Chpt. 16 page 274 – 284.