About the book In November 2008 James Titcombe and his family suffered a terrible tragedy – the death of their baby son Joshua, aged just 9 days old. For the next six years James dedicated his life to finding out just what happened to Joshua. What he discovers goes far beyond the errors that caused […]

Healthcare is a risky business. While the maxim ‘first, do no harm’ is a fundamentally important precept, and the aim of a ‘zero harm’ care environment is a laudable one, no healthcare system will ever be completely harm free. How the needs and interests of patients and professionals are managed in the aftermath of healthcare […]

Over the past few months, I’ve been advising on two key patient safety improvement processes. I drew on my campaign experience with Patient Safety First and specifically using what we have learnt from our work with www.patientstories.org.uk The first initiative is the “Never Events” Task Force which is to be led by the Royal College […]

Drawing on lessons from social psychology,  PATIENTSTORIES Executive Producer, Murray Anderson-Wallace and ethicist Dr Suzanne Shale identify three main traps to avoid when thinking about culture in the NHS. This article is part of a series of pieces written to co-incide with the publication of the Francis Inquiry. The attached PDF is an extended version […]

by Murray Anderson-Wallace & Dr Suzanne Shale. This article was originally published by the Health Service Journal How do we learn from patients’ and families’ poor experiences? Download PDF   Far from sapping their time and energy, nurturing the healing relationship at the heart of medicine sustains clinicians’ vitality. The word ‘complaint’ has a latin […]

Healthcare is a risky business. While the maxim ‘first, do no harm’ is a fundamentally important precept, and the aim of a ‘zero harm’ care environment is a laudable one, no healthcare system will ever be completely harm free. How the needs and interests of patients and professionals are managed in the aftermath of healthcare […]

On the 28th May, we’re launching “Alexandra’s Story” in collaboration with The Guardian “Comment is Free” to highlight the experiences of Drs. Beatrix and Craig Campbell, whose daughter Alexandra died aged 3 days following a severe spinal injury during her birth. The story is based on the testimony of Dr Beatrix Futak-Campbell, Alexandra’s mother. It […]

Murray Anderson-Wallace, PATIENTSTORIES Executive Producer is to advise two key patient safety improvement consultation processes, both of which launch later this month. His work as a member of the Royal College of Surgeon’s / NHS England “Never Events” Task Force began in April. The public consultation is due to begin later this month. Clare Bowen, […]

by Murray Anderson-Wallace There has been a great deal of talk about the need for “cultural change” in and around the health service in recent weeks. There has also been a great deal of publicity around the need for accountability. In the wake of the Francis Inquiry, Cure the NHS have called for the resignation […]

by Jenny Wallace A play in 4 acts, with a prologue and epilogue Set in this country and performed by a large cast. Dramatis personae: members of the judiciary, police, NHS staff, teachers and examiners, journalists and broadcasters, social workers, bankers and politicians. All played by themselves (with some actors playing more than one part) […]

By Jenny Wallace Some years ago, I was informed that the profession which I had been following was no longer to be known as “teaching”, but “delivering the curriculum”. At first, I hardly took this seriously, especially as I and my colleagues in a successful and well-respected school had always prided ourselves on going far […]

  by Murray Anderson-Wallace Earlier this week I spent the day at the Kings Fund at the first post Francis conference. I suspect there will be many more! Robert Francis QC offered a solid, convincing and unambigious summary account of some key themes from the Inquiry. I think he is a considered and considerate man […]

The web has transformed the way in which we broadcast and consume media.  It has made content much more easily accessible to many more people and this undoubtedly is a very, very positive thing.  Without it, we couldn’t do our work at all. At PATIENTSTORIES we genuinely want as many people as possible to see […]

A valuable talk from the great TED resource. We have just begun development on a new sister site, www.doctorsstories.org.uk where we will be working with doctors who want to share their stories and explore the professional, moral and ethical issues issues associated with avoidable harm, raising concerns associated with patient safety and disclosure. We hope […]