How can specialist investigation agencies inform system-wide learning for patient safety? A qualitative study of perspectives on the early years of the English Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch.

Objectives: System-wide learning for patient safety is a core challenge for the health care sector, despite the prevalence of localised reporting and learning approaches. There is growing interest in how health care services could emulate other safety-critical sectors with the introduction of specialist safety investigation agencies to inform sector-wide safety. This paper reports on a study of the introduction and early operation of one such agency in the English health and care system.

Using best practice to create a pathway to improve management of irritable bowel syndrome: aiming for timely diagnosis, effective treatment and equitable care.

Background: Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) costs the National Health Service almost £12 million per annum. Despite national guidelines advising primary care management, these have failed to stem secondary care referrals of patients with likely IBS for unnecessary and costly assessment and investigation without necessarily achieving resolution of their symptoms.

Methods: In 2011, an integrated team from primary and secondary care developed a business case using baseline data to create a Somerset-wide IBS pathway using Clinical Commissioning Group funding.