Why Patient and Staff Safety in Healthcare Are Inseparable
Thursday 17 September 2020 marked the second annual World Patient Safety Day. Established during the 72nd World Health Assembly, the event’s core objective is to enhance global understanding of patient safety, drive public engagement, and promote actions that reduce harm in healthcare. The theme of the 2020 event, “Health Worker Safety: A Priority for Patient Safety,” clearly highlights the deep connection between the safety of healthcare staff and the wellbeing of patients.
The Overlooked Importance of Staff Safety
In recent years, the importance of staff safety in healthcare has not always been given the attention it deserves. The COVID-19 pandemic exposed this oversight, revealing the vulnerability of healthcare workers to both physical and mental health risks. From the lack of adequate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to the strain of physically and emotionally demanding conditions, many healthcare workers faced—and continue to face—unprecedented challenges. Tragically, many have lost their lives due to exposure to the virus, a sobering reminder of the critical need for effective infection control.
At Patient Safety Learning, we believe that patient and staff safety in healthcare are fundamentally interconnected.
How Staff Safety Drives Patient Safety
Patient safety is all about preventing avoidable harm and ensuring care is delivered safely. Staff safety is central to achieving this:
- During the COVID-19 pandemic, staff with proper PPE not only protected themselves but also reduced the risk of spreading the virus to patients.
- A blame-free culture in healthcare empowers staff to report errors and near misses, contributing to better outcomes and safer environments.
- Maintaining safe staffing levels reduces burnout and supports the physical and mental wellbeing of staff, directly enhancing their performance and patient care quality.
The Six Foundations of Safer Care
Our report, A Blueprint for Action, outlines six foundational elements for a safer healthcare system. These principles also apply directly to improving staff safety:
1. Shared Learning
Sharing lessons from both patient and staff safety incidents—as well as good practices—fosters a culture of continuous improvement.
2. Leadership
Leadership plays a pivotal role in embedding staff safety into broader safety strategies across healthcare systems.
3. Professional Standards
Healthcare systems should be designed to support both patient and staff safety. This includes setting standards for staff qualifications and creating safe working environments.
4. Patient and Staff Engagement
Improving safety requires the active involvement of both patients and staff. Co-producing solutions ensures better outcomes for all stakeholders.
5. Data and Insight
Reliable data collection and analysis are essential for assessing and improving safety performance for both patients and staff.
6. Just Culture
Creating a culture that removes fear and blame encourages transparency, reporting, and resolution of safety issues.
Key Areas Where Patient and Staff Safety Intersect
Physical Safety
The pandemic underscored the importance of physical protection for healthcare workers. PPE shortages highlighted unequal access across sectors, with social care staff often at a disadvantage. This lack of protection exposed both patients and workers to greater risk. Concerns around hospital-acquired infections and limited testing access further demonstrated how lapses in staff safety directly compromise patient health.
Ensuring the physical safety of healthcare workers must remain a priority—now and in the future—to protect the broader safety ecosystem in healthcare.
Safe Staffing Levels
The NHS emphasizes that delivering quality care depends on having the right number and mix of clinical professionals. Understaffing not only compromises care but affects the welfare of staff, who may be forced to work without basic breaks, impacting their physical and emotional health.
Many staff members have reported unsafe staffing conditions, and burnout remains a serious concern—especially for those who worked through the pandemic. Research consistently shows that low staffing levels negatively affect patient outcomes. Major safety inquiries, such as the Francis Report, link patient harm directly to insufficient staffing.
Psychological Safety
Psychological safety means creating a work environment where staff feel safe speaking up about concerns, ideas, or mistakes without fear of blame or reprisal. When psychological safety is absent, errors go unreported and problems remain unresolved, increasing the risk to patients.
Despite growing awareness, many staff still experience cultures where raising concerns is unwelcome. NHS survey data shows that a significant number of staff do not feel secure reporting unsafe practices. Stories shared on our learning platform show ongoing fear and reluctance to speak out—even when identities are protected.
At Patient Safety Learning, we believe psychological safety must become a core priority. This means setting measurable goals for cultural transformation and holding leaders accountable for fostering environments where staff are empowered to contribute to safety improvements.