NHS Lanarkshire has held its fifth patient safety learning session and has celebrated the successes that have been made to date.

The learning sessions have taken place as a major part of the organisations patient safety collaborative.

The collaborative aims to ensure that NHS Lanarkshire is the safest health and care system in Scotland.

Jane Murkin, head of patient safety and improvement, said: “Since the launch of the patient safety collaborative, we have seen some major improvements in the safety of the care that we provide.

“For example, one project has seen a number of new procedures being introduced to halt a cardiac arrest in its tracks.

“By identifying subtle changes in a patient’s condition and responding to them as they happen, you can often prevent a major deterioration from happening.

“We have introduced new ways to recognise a deteriorating symptom and have ensured that all staff check every patient in the same way.

“We are also progressing work to reduce catheter associated infections by 30%.

“We have developed a criteria for catheter insertion, which has seen an overall reduction in the number of patients who have had a catheter inserted.”

Each of these successes is based on strong team working, where staff have reliably tested and measured the projects that they have put in place.

Calum Campbell, chief executive, said: “I am delighted that so many members of staff have shown a strong commitment to making patient safety their highest priority.

“In order to transform the care that we deliver, we need to continue to radically redesign our care processes.

“I would like to challenge more staff to think outside the box and explore new ways that they can continually improve the level of care that they provide to our patients.”

For further information about the patient safety collaborative, email Jane Murkin at jane.murkin@lanarkshire.scot.nhs.uk.