A blueprint for learning: How NHS England (London) learned during its response to the Covid-19 pandemic

Identification and sharing of lessons is a key aspect of emergency preparedness, resilience and response (EPRR) activity in the national health service (NHS) in England (NHS England, 2022). The overall intent of the lessons identification and implementation process is to improve readiness and response to future major incidents and emergencies, such that, wherever possible, patient harm is minimised and staff well-being is maximised.

In this commentary, we draw on international literature to outline some of the major challenges in healthcare organisations to learning from major incidents and emergencies. We describe our experience of identifying lessons and set out the approach used by NHS England (London) to identifying lessons from the NHS response to the Covid-19 pandemic in the capital. We describe the knowledge garnered in our organisation about learning methods during the Covid-19 pandemic. The commentary considers the different approaches to identifying lessons, and the subsequent challenges of learning and implementation. This paper places its focus on the learning processes followed rather than what was learned as a result. It also explores whether the learning process undertaken by NHS England (London) demonstrates the hallmarks of a learning organisation.