Patient safety - research
This page highlights key centres involved in research on patient safety.
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Research centres
Centre for Patient Safety and Service Quality (CPSSQ)
This centre is a partnership between Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust and Imperial College London. The centre comprises a highly specialised set of research groups, created with the aim of improving patient safety and the quality of services within the NHS. The CPSSQ is part of the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). The cross cutting research themes include: patients and families; safety and quality information; design and technology; teamwork and skills; organisations and systems.
Design for Patient Safety at Cambridge Engineering Design Centre
This is a collaboration between Cambridge University, Surrey University and the Royal College of Art in the Cambridge Engineering Design Centre, looking at the role of design in patient safety. The vision of the Healthcare Design group is to embed a systems engineering culture in the UK Health Service and its suppliers with the specific aim to improve patient safety. The research is focussed on medication packaging, alarm system design and the design of home-use devices.
King's Patient Safety & Service Quality Research Centre (King's PSSQ)
This research centre is a partnership between King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and King’s College London. It is funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) and was established to drive improvements in the safety, quality and effectiveness of the services the NHS provides to its patients and the public. The centre brings together NHS professionals with academic experts from a wide range of backgrounds, including management and the social sciences, to focus on investigating ways to improve the care of patients.
King's PSSQ: Quality and Safety in European Union Hospitals: A Research-based Guide for Implementing Best Practice and a Framework for Assessing Performance (QUASER)
This centre is leading on a major new international research project on quality and safety in European hospitals. Partners include the PSSQ Research Centre at Imperial College and partners from Sweden, the Netherlands, Portugal and Norway. The three-year study, started in 2010 and explores the relationships between the organisational and cultural characteristics of hospitals and how these impact upon clinical effectiveness, patient safety and experience in European countries. Data will be collected in two hospitals in each of the five partner countries, with additional studies of two particular clinical areas in one hospital in each country. View the Project summary (PDF 265KB)
Lancaster Patient Safety Research Unit (LPSRU)
This unit is a collaboration between the University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Trust, North Lancashire NHS and Lancaster University. It is funded by the NHS through the National Institute for Health Research. The unit has two aims. The first is to conduct world-class, high-quality research in patient safety. The second is to make sure that their findings are used in practice, to improve the welfare of people in North Lancashire and South Cumbria and throughout the NHS. Current research topics include: research into practice; emotions, gender and patient safety; methods in patient safety; case studies in patient safety; incident reporting and analysis; measurement and monitoring; distraction in anesthesia and risk, safety and identity.
Patient Safety Research Network, University of Manchester
The University of Manchester undertakes patient safety research and co-ordinates the Patient Safety Research Network.
World Health Organization (WHO) Patient Safety Research
The World Health Organization's Patient Safety Research pages. WHO Patient Safety brought together a working group of research experts from around the world to focus on identifying research priorities in developing, transitional and developed countries. This work provides a crucial focus and starting point for global research into patient safety. See: WHO (2009) Global priorities for Patient Safety Research (PDF 1.05MB). Patient safety research is an emerging field. The World Health Organization presents a series of examples of research in each of the key areas to stimulate new research and debate in patient safety research. See: WHO Case studies in patient safety research.