EIGHT staff members from the Western Trust are participating in a unique training programme which brings together senior managers and clinicians from hospitals and services on both sides of the border.

The cross border Patient Safety Programme focuses on best practice in patient safety and how it can be applied in local health facilities.

Funding for this initiative has been provided by the European Union’s INTERREG IVA programme secured by Co-operation and Working Together (CAWT), the cross border health services partnership. The 28 participants include medical consultants, senior nurses and allied health professionals from the Northern, Southern and Western Health and Social Care Trusts in Northern Ireland and the HSE areas of Cavan, Monaghan and Sligo.

The programme is a collaboration between the Health and Social Care Safety Forum which is part of the Public Health Agency in Northern Ireland and the National Quality Improvement Programme – a joint partnership of the Health Service Executive and the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland.

The cross border initiative seeks to improve the quality of care and outcomes for patients across both jurisdictions by developing a core group of health professionals, who can lead on service improvement, with a focus on patient safety and quality, within their own health service organisations. Each participant is required to apply the skills acquired from the learning sessions back in their local hospital / health service facility through the completion of a project within the lifetime of this programme.

It will also lead to the development of additional capacity and capability in the area of patient safety/quality improvement within front-line health services.

Participating in the programme, Western Trust’s Executive Director of Nursing, Alan Corry-Finn said: “The Western Trust welcomes the opportunity to participate in this unique cross border training programme which puts patient safety first. Patient and client safety is fundamental to the Western Trust’s commitment to delivering high quality, patient and client focused services. This cross border programme will help us to deliver on this agenda.”    Welcoming the commencement of the programme, Chief Officer of CAWT, Bernie McCrory said: “I am delighted that the cross border Patient Safety programme is proving to be so successful and has garnered an excellent reputation with both health services on this island. Opportunities like this are so valuable because they enable our doctors, nurses and other health care professionals from both sides of the border to engage in joint training, which ultimately benefits patient and clients. Our support for this training programme is just part of the work of the CAWT cross border partnership in improving access to health services and facilitating greater integration between the health services in both jurisdictions.”  This current programme is scheduled to conclude in March 2015 with a final session at which participants will feedback on the practical service improvement projects they have undertaken to enhance patient safety.