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2 02 Patient Safety and Quality of Care

Summary

The RCGP aims to improve the quality of healthcare by defining and upholding high standards for general practice education and training, aiming to improve health outcomes for all by promoting high quality general practice at the heart of the health service
As a GP you are in a strong position to influence the care of your own patients, that of your practice population and that of the wider healthcare community
Understanding how and when to apply tools and metrics to improve the quality of care is a key skill that can and should be learnt during your training, as well as enhanced in lifelong learning
Working in partnership with your patients and understanding their needs is vital to improving clinical care and reducing health inequalities
Patients, their families and carers have an important role in the assessment of health care; their views are therefore essential for the development of high- quality health care. Patients should be encouraged to be actively involved in planning their care and in the development of services at practice level and beyond
How we learn from and share lessons regarding clinical care is an important marker of our personal and collective professional development

Educational priorities

The GMC Duties of a Doctor clearly states ‘you must make the care of your patient your first concern’, with quality and safety of healthcare being a key concern for the public.

General practitioners and practices do not work in isolation but are an integral part of systems of care. As a GP, understanding teams, interfaces, organisational relationships and care pathways is essential to the delivery and development of high-quality, safe patient care. Because of this there are many opportunities for you to have a positive impact upon healthcare and to improve the quality and safety of care for your individual patients, your registered population and for those patients within your locality.

Knowledge and skills guide

This section contains the learning outcomes for the 'Patient Safety and Quality of Care' curriculum module.

These are grouped into 12 core areas of competence concerned with the tasks you will undertake as a general practitioner when delivering care to people in your community.

Case discussion

This section contains a scenario and questions for reflection which help to illustrate the learning points in this module.

A patient, Juliet Brown, asked for a home visit for her frail elderly mother, Mrs Jones, who had come to stay with her. Dr G visited that afternoon and found that Mrs Jones had atrial fibrillation and was on warfarin ....

How to learn this area of practice

This section includes suggested activities and strategies for developing the competences you will require.

Useful learning resources

This section provides suggestions for further reading and other resources to help you in your training, including books, journal articles and web resources.

References

This section lists references which have been used in the development of the curriculum.

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