How to manage risk and respond to safety concerns in gynaecology: doing ‘safety differently’

Abstract

Healthcare providers must seek to reduce the risk of harm to patients using their services. A good safety culture within an organization assures service users, staff, and the public, that there is commitment to provision of safe, high quality and effective care. Managing risk is everybody's responsibility, and all clinicians should understand risk management processes. Robust risk management demonstrates a blame-free reporting culture and learning from clinical errors whilst pro-actively measuring patient safety indicators within the organization. This review outlines the key elements of risk management within gynaecology and explains how risks are identified, assessed, quantified and managed. The new NHS Patient Safety Incident Response Framework is introduced, together with the new tools used to respond to and learn from incidents and events.