BRADFORD hospitals are taking part in a national pilot scheme to highlight gaps in safety and improve patients' care.

Bradford Teaching Hospitals is one of ten centres nationally which will roll-out the unique projects as part of The Health Foundation charity's £4 million improvement programme.

Hospital volunteers will give patients questionnaires about their experiences and how safe they feel their care is as part of the Bradford Patient Reporting and Action for a Safe Environment (PRASE) trial.

The surveys will also collect patients' views on important factors such as staff communication, equipment availability, organisation and care planning, which are areas known to be implicated when problems occur.

Dr Robin Jeffrey is the PRASE project lead and medical director at the Trust, which runs Bradford Royal Infirmary (BRI) and St Luke's Hospital. He said: "PRASE focuses on a crucial patient safety innovation - involving patients in identifying gaps in hospital safety.

“After all, patients are in a unique position to give instant and detailed insight into the quality and safety of the care they receive and the ward environment during these face-to-face interviews with our hospital volunteers.

“Crucially this feedback will provide our hospitals with the opportunity to continually learn from the patient's perspective and make real improvements to care and the environment.

“Patients will also be able to provide concrete examples of any concerns they have had about their safety, or the safety of others, while on the ward.

"They may also be in a position to feedback on other issues that could pre-empt adverse patient safety incidents and advance local safety improvement initiatives."

The project will be rolled out at BRI, St Luke’s Hospital and the Trust's four community hospitals.

Professor John Wright, senior clinician and deputy chairman of the PRASE project board, added: “The scheme will also evaluate the potential for hospital volunteers to work in partnership with patient safety teams in the hospital, to embed PRASE into hospital ward routines, as well as providing a sustainable method of patient safety measurement.

“Most importantly, PRASE will seek to identify whether the project's implementation can lead to measurable improvements in quality and safety.

“Initial data suggests that PRASE can make a real difference to patients’ safety and their experiences within hospitals, and this means it has the potential for use within health services both nationally and internationally.”

The information collected will be evaluated by staff from the Bradford Institute for Health Research which is based at BRI.