| Unit name | Patient Safety and Risk Management |
|---|---|
| Unit code | MEEDM0033 |
| Credit points | 0 |
| Level of study | M/7 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 4 (weeks 1-24) |
| Unit director | Dr. Grant |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Units you must take before you take this one (pre-requisite units) |
None |
| Units you must take alongside this one (co-requisite units) |
Registration on the two linked units i.e. Patient Safety & Risk Management (0 credits) and the Healthcare |
| Units you may not take alongside this one |
None |
| School/department | Bristol Medical School |
| Faculty | Faculty of Health Sciences |
Why is the unit important?
In order to generate impactful solutions, the contributory factors that lead to it needs to be fully understood. A failure to fully understand all of the contributory factors leads to implementation plans that fail to address the true problem and a failure to improve outcome. Using patient safety and risk management theory, this unit aims to enhance learner’s ability to critically analyse events. . Thus, enabling them to develop and implement sustainable solutions to address the root causes of these problems.
How does this unit fit into your programme of study?
This programme is designed for individuals with an interest in pursuing a career in promotion, design and delivery of healthcare improvement initiatives. It draws from the theoretical frameworks and practice-oriented knowledge and skills from a variety of specialist subject areas that enable students to develop an in depth understanding on strategies required to establish a culture of organisational learning focussed on continued proactive improvement of healthcare delivery. Central to this approach is breaking down of an engrained silo culture and the creation of key relationships between educational and governance infrastructures. Integral to an organisations governance infrastructure is a well-functioning safety management system that contains elements that not only focus on gathering information on organisational performance, identifying areas for improvement, but also elements that respond to that information and enable the organisation and its staff to continually learn and improve. Cultivating a reciprocal relationship between these information gathering elements and the response elements allows the information gathering elements to in turn assess whether the improvement strategies developed in response has had the desired effect. This continual process allows organisations to transition to learning organisations – an organisation that continually learns and adjusts whilst delivering a service.
This unit allows students to develop a deeper understanding of the factors that play a role in shaping healthcare outcomes both intended and unintended.
An overview of content:
Using patient safety and risk management as a framework learners will have the opportunity to reflect on events by engaging with a wider range of academic concepts. These concepts are divided in four overarching themes:
How will students, personally, be different as a result of the unit:
This unit allows students to develop a deeper understanding of the factors that play a role in shaping healthcare outcomes both intended and unintended.
Their ability to achieve a more comprehensive understanding of events will allow them to design implementation plans that deliver sustainable change. In addition the development of a practical understanding of non-technical skills and teamwork skills will enable them to effectively lead the implementation of change.
Learning Outcomes:
A: Knowledge and Understanding of:
1. Compare the differences and relations between Safety Management, Risk Management, Health and Safety and Patient Safety.
2. Identify practical applications of internal and external components of Risk Management.
3. Understand human factors theory and its impact on safety.
4. Differentiate relationships and co-dependencies between Risk Management, Patient Safety, Quality Improvement, Education and Learning Organisations.
5. Discuss key features and skills required to effectively manage and sustain change in their own context.
6. Components required to establish a culture of organisational learning in the NHS.
B: Intellectual Skills /Attributes:
1. Demonstrate a critical approach to an organisation’s proactive improvement of healthcare delivery.
2. Critically analyse the health sector using the focus of key relationships between educational and governance infrastructures.
3. Demonstrate criticality towards literature and theory relevant to health care improvement and organisational learning.
C: Other Skills /Attributes (Practical/Professional/Transferable):
1. Investigate and analyse a patient safety event, reflecting and drawing own conclusions on a change in practice.
2. Propose and develop an action plan to implement change in practice to address skill knowledge gap.
3. Reflect on skills to engage stakeholders in the implementation and maintenance of change.
The unit will be delivered through a mixture of self-guided study materials, real time and recorded lectures, web-based tutorials and discussions, case study work, readings, and activities. There will be some compulsory pre-course work which will include core readings and critical analysis which the students are required to carry out. The use of the Blackboard online learning environment will be actively pursued to develop students’ understanding and engagement with the unit content.
Tasks which help you learn and prepare you for summative tasks (Formative):
1: A draft written assignment of 500 words prose outlining reflection on a patient safety event.
Student feedback given.
2: Write a 3000 word reflection on a (patient) safety event or a proposed change in practice.
Define the type of Safety or Management issue and justify why using the literature.
Propose and develop an action plan to implement a change in practice to address skill knowledge gap.
Consider how this sustainable change could be managed.
This reflective piece will form part of the Capstone report.
Students must successfully engage with this unit, which will be assessed by engagement with synchronous and asynchronous online activities and engagement with the formative assessment tasks.
Tasks which count towards your unit mark (summative)
No summative assessment is linked to this 0 credit unit. Assessment is delivered, and credit awarded, via the Healthcare Improvement Capstone Assessment Unit. Students will be expected to build on this formative written reflection in the Assessment Unit with a summative written project.
When assessment does not go to plan:
You will receive extensive formative feedback that will both inform you of the current level of your work and provide you with detailed guidance on how to improve your performance in the Capstone Unit.
If this unit has a Resource List, you will normally find a link to it in the Blackboard area for the unit. Sometimes there will be a separate link for each weekly topic.
If you are unable to access a list through Blackboard, you can also find it via the Resource Lists homepage. Search for the list by the unit name or code (e.g. MEEDM0033).
How much time the unit requires
Each credit equates to 10 hours of total student input. For example a 20 credit unit will take you 200 hours
of study to complete. Your total learning time is made up of contact time, directed learning tasks,
independent learning and assessment activity.
See the University Workload statement relating to this unit for more information.
Assessment
The Board of Examiners will consider all cases where students have failed or not completed the assessments required for credit.
The Board considers each student's outcomes across all the units which contribute to each year's programme of study. For appropriate assessments, if you have self-certificated your absence, you will normally be required to complete it the next time it runs (for assessments at the end of TB1 and TB2 this is usually in the next re-assessment period).
The Board of Examiners will take into account any exceptional circumstances and operates
within the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.
