Patient safety
how risk is managed. However, transformation on this scale
inevitably introduces new safety challenges. Care delivered closer to home may be more convenient and personalised, but it also requires robust systems to manage risk outside traditional hospital environments. Digital transformation promises efficiency and access, but poorly designed or implemented technology can introduce new hazards. A stronger focus on prevention may reduce long-term demand, but only if safety is embedded across entire care pathways. The ABHI report is clear: patient safety must
be central to the success of this reform agenda. If safety is treated as an afterthought, the risk is that harm is displaced rather than reduced. If it is designed in from the outset, reform offers the opportunity to build safer, more resilient systems for the long term.
Moving beyond reaction: the case for a systems approach A central theme of the report is the need to move away from a predominantly reactive model of patient safety. Incident reporting, investigation and learning remain essential, but on their own they are insufficient. Too often, lessons are identified only after harm has occurred, with limited mechanisms to ensure they are embedded consistently across the system. In other safety-critical industries, this
approach would be considered inadequate. Sectors such as aviation, nuclear energy and rail rely on Safety Management Systems (SMS), structured, proactive frameworks designed to identify risk early, manage hazards
Industry is still too often positioned as something to be managed or constrained, rather than as a collaborator in safety improvement. This framing can limit opportunities for shared learning and innovation, and risks under-utilising the expertise that already exists within the sector.
systematically and promote continuous learning. Safety is treated as integral to operational performance, not a competing priority. Healthcare, by contrast, has yet to adopt SMS thinking consistently or at scale. Where it does exist, it is often fragmented, variable in maturity and insufficiently supported by leadership, data or culture. The ABHI report argues that this gap is a significant contributor to the persistence of avoidable harm. Working with Patient Safety Learning’s What Good Looks Like framework, the report sets out what a systems-based approach could look like in practice. Rather than focusing narrowly on individual failures, it examines how leadership, governance, culture, data, regulation and technology interact to shape safety outcomes over time.
Importantly, this framework places patients and families at its centre. Their experiences are not treated as anecdotal or secondary, but as essential sources of insight into where systems succeed or fail in practice. Patients often see risks before they escalate and experience the cumulative impact of system failures in ways that individual organisations may not.
HealthTech as a partner in safety, not a peripheral actor A defining feature of the report is its positioning of the HealthTech industry as a trusted partner in patient safety and healthcare worker safety. HealthTech companies operate in highly regulated environments and routinely manage risk across product design, manufacturing, implementation and post-market surveillance. Many have deep expertise in human factors, usability engineering, data analytics and continuous improvement. Yet industry is still too often positioned as something to be managed or constrained, rather than as a collaborator in safety improvement. This framing can limit opportunities for shared learning and innovation, and risks under-utilising the expertise that already exists within the sector. The report is careful to stress that this is
not about promoting individual products or technologies. Instead, it is about recognising that technology shapes how care is delivered, how staff work and how risk is managed. A poorly implemented technology can increase cognitive burden, introduce new failure points or exacerbate existing inequalities. Conversely, well-designed and well-embedded technology can reduce variation, support safer decision- making and enable earlier intervention. Crucially, safety outcomes depend as much on implementation as on innovation. Too often, procurement and deployment focus on short- term cost rather than long-term value, including safety, workforce impact and system efficiency. The report calls for a shift towards value-based approaches that recognise patient safety as a core component of quality.
Evidence in action: technology reducing harm today To ground its recommendations in real-world practice, the report includes multiple case studies demonstrating how HealthTech solutions already in use are delivering measurable patient safety benefits. In infection prevention and control, data- driven surveillance systems are enabling
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www.clinicalservicesjournal.com I March 2026
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