Improving patient safety through education

Dear Sir/Madam,

I write in response to the editorial"improving patient safety through
education" by Mr Simon Paterson-Brown (BMJ/30 April 2011/Volume 342). I
entirely agree with his comments as to the importance of addressing the
ongoing deficit of this part of all practitioners training. In a hospital
environment where equality and diversity training comes before patient
safety the only way to bridge this gap is to have regular obligatory
multi-professional training. The present system, whereby a computerised
incident form is filled in and no feedback is ever forthcoming not only
halts the learning process but discourages the referee from bothering to
report an adverse incident again.There is no cohesive reflective process
involved in merely reporting and thus little to stop those involved from
repeating the error. If the radical change in culture and teaching on
patient safety is not encompassed by the profession we may find it
unsatisfactorily imposed following the escalating activities of the legal
profession who represent the victims of error.

Yours sincerely

M J Thompson

Specialist Registrar in Cardiothoracic Surgery