Title: NIHR Greater Manchester Patient Safety Translational Research Centre
Funder: Department of Health and Social Care

Abstract: Greater Manchester and its unique devolved health and social care system, powerful patient safety research capability, uniquely capable informatics infrastructure and strong academic health science centre is an ideal and unique location for a PSTRC. 75% of patient safety research is focused on hospitals. Little is known about patient safety outside hospitals, yet 85% of NHS contacts happen in these settings. Potential strategies for system-wide improvement of care safety need an evidence base. The NIHR Greater Manchester PSTRC (GMPSTRC) is successfully filling this evidence gap, particularly for primary care and its interfaces with hospitals. We are forming a world first patient safety facility focussed on primary care able to follow and involve patients with complex needs system-wide, and seed continuous learning of safer care across settings. GMPSTRC has built a unique research capability for the UK and established a critical mass of partnerships with patients, communities and care systems to expand its programme. GMPSTRC is poised to develop its work and collaborate with academic groups in the UK and overseas in this unique early translational research facility. We will use digital and behavioural healthcare practices for safety of patients with complex needs in primary care and transitions of care focusing on: Safety Informatics – developing technologies and information behaviours that create safer care systems, building on innovations in NHS data analytics/interfaces, and on the civic data integration initiative of Greater Manchester, Connect/DataWell – able to underpin the world’s first place-based “Learning Healthcare System”; Medication Safety – building on internationally recognised developments in medication safety surveillance and intervention, and focussing on developing safety management systems to ensure safe care and treatment; Safer Care Systems and Transitions – transitioning care between settings, professions and organisations – a new Theme – to improve pathways and information flow for marginalised and complex patients, and leveraging the high concentration of care provider interfaces in Greater Manchester; Safety in Marginalised Groups – a new Theme – co-designing safer care and test effective digital and behavioural interventions to enable patients and carers to take control of their care. We will extend GMPSTRC’s deep integration with Salford across Greater Manchester’s newly-integrated Health and Social Care Partnership which serves 3m people. Partnerships with Nottingham/East Midlands and the Connected Health Cities programme across the north of England will generalise our research so it can be implemented rapidly throughout the UK. We will partner with a powerful network of companies via existing and new collaborations. In the short, medium and long term, we will: Develop and test evidence-based digital and behavioural interventions to improve patient safety in their interactions with primary care and at transitions between care-settings; Deliver a world-first facility for early translational research in a unique devolved ‘Learning Health System’, creating a translation pipeline from GMPSTRC to CLAHRCs/AHSNs and Patient Safety Collaboratives, NHS and local authority partners, so that early translational research has regional and national impact; Further build capacity in primary care safety research at early stages of translation within and between research and practice communities.

Lay abstract: Greater Manchester and its unique devolved health and social care system, powerful patient safety research capability, uniquely capable informatics infrastructure and strong academic health science centre is an ideal and unique location for a PSTRC. 75% of patient safety research is focused on hospitals. Little is known about patient safety outside hospitals, yet 85% of NHS contacts happen in these settings. Potential strategies for system-wide improvement of care safety need an evidence base. The NIHR Greater Manchester PSTRC (GMPSTRC) is successfully filling this evidence gap, particularly for primary care and its interfaces with hospitals. We are forming a world first patient safety facility focussed on primary care able to follow and involve patients with complex needs system-wide, and seed continuous learning of safer care across settings. GMPSTRC has built a unique research capability for the UK and established a critical mass of partnerships with patients, communities and care systems to expand its programme. GMPSTRC is poised to develop its work and collaborate with academic groups in the UK and overseas in this unique early translational research facility. We will use digital and behavioural healthcare practices for safety of patients with complex needs in primary care and transitions of care focusing on: Safety Informatics – developing technologies and information behaviours that create safer care systems, building on innovations in NHS data analytics/interfaces, and on the civic data integration initiative of Greater Manchester, Connect/DataWell – able to underpin the world’s first place-based “Learning Healthcare System”; Medication Safety – building on internationally recognised developments in medication safety surveillance and intervention, and focussing on developing safety management systems to ensure safe care and treatment; Safer Care Systems and Transitions – transitioning care between settings, professions and organisations – a new Theme – to improve pathways and information flow for marginalised and complex patients, and leveraging the high concentration of care provider interfaces in Greater Manchester; Safety in Marginalised Groups – a new Theme – co-designing safer care and test effective digital and behavioural interventions to enable patients and carers to take control of their care. We will extend GMPSTRC’s deep integration with Salford across Greater Manchester’s newly-integrated Health and Social Care Partnership which serves 3m people. Partnerships with Nottingham/East Midlands and the Connected Health Cities programme across the north of England will generalise our research so it can be implemented rapidly throughout the UK. We will partner with a powerful network of companies via existing and new collaborations. In the short, medium and long term, we will: Develop and test evidence-based digital and behavioural interventions to improve patient safety in their interactions with primary care and at transitions between care-settings; Deliver a world-first facility for early translational research in a unique devolved ‘Learning Health System’, creating a translation pipeline from GMPSTRC to CLAHRCs/AHSNs and Patient Safety Collaboratives, NHS and local authority partners, so that early translational research has regional and national impact; Further build capacity in primary care safety research at early stages of translation within and between research and practice communities.

Research activity codes: 8.5 RESOURCES AND INFRASTRUCTURE (HEALTH SERVICES)
Health categories: MENTAL HEALTH