ALLIANCE responds to Patient Safety Commissioner for Scotland Bill

The response highlights the importance of patient safety to the delivery of good quality, accessible, and acceptable health care services.

The ALLIANCE has responded to the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee’s call for views on the Patient Safety Commissioner for Scotland Bill (this link will take you away from our website). The Scottish Government introduced the Bill to the Scottish Parliament on 6 October 2022. It aims to establish a Patient Safety Commissioner for Scotland, who would:

• support system wide improvement in the safety of health care
• promote the importance of the views of patients and members of the public in relation to the safety of health care.

In May 2021, the ALLIANCE held an engagement event with our members exploring the role of a Patient Safety Commissioner for Scotland. This response draws on, and builds upon, our response to the Scottish Government’s consultation in May 2021 on the role of a Patient Safety Commissioner for Scotland.

Some of our key points and recommendations are summarised below:

• Patient safety is fundamental to the delivery of good quality, accessible, and acceptable health care services. ALLIANCE members have emphasised the importance of a Patient Safety Commissioner role in saving people’s lives, as well as reducing the need for compensation payments. It is important that the Commissioner adopts a person centred approach to identify priority areas of concern across the health care landscape, with lived experience at the heart of its functions.
• The ALLIANCE broadly welcomes the proposed role and responsibility of the Patient Safety Commissioner. Thematic areas explored by the Commissioner should be rooted firmly in robust evidence and chosen using a process which prioritises people whose rights are most at risk.
• Inclusive communication processes should be incorporated into functions of the Commissioner at the earliest opportunity to ensure communication and information provision is inclusive for all.
• The Commissioner should explicitly co-produce its strategic plan with people with lived experience of patient safety issues.
• To ensure meaningful participation from people with lived experience on the Commissioner’s advisory group, the legislation should include a commitment to funding for the payment and remuneration of lived experience representatives, and for adequate facilitation and support to enable participation to the maximum extent.
• The proposed powers of the Commissioner should be underpinned by core human rights principles, including transparency and accountability, to outline explicitly what powers have been exercised by the Commissioner, and why. It is crucial that the role and remit of the Commissioner is clearly explained to the public through accessible, inclusive and unambiguous messaging.

You can read our full response via the links below.

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