On Thursday 1 March, Jeremy Hunt, Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, visited University Hospital in Coventry to speak to an invited audience of clinical and service management staff.

Mr Hunt was welcomed to University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire (UHCW) NHS Trust by Professor Andy Hardy, CEO and, Professor Meghana Pandit, Chief Medical Officer and Deputy CEO.

Following a presentation by Professor Meghana Pandit on the work the Trust has been doing to provide safer care to its patients, the Secretary of State spoke about the national journey to improve the quality of care in the NHS.

During his speech, Mr Hunt detailed the improvements the NHS was making in patient safety, the personal journey he had been on during his time as Health Secretary, and his ambitions to further improve the care the NHS provides.

Professor Mike Durkin, Senior Advisor on Patient Safety Policy and Leadership at Institute of Global Health Innovation, and a former Director at NHS England, also spoke at the event about how we need to work across professions, using our love for the NHS, to work to providing the safest care possible.

Following the presentations, attendees had the opportunity to ask questions to the Secretary of State. Mr Hunt also met with Elaine Clarke, Associate Director of Nursing for Patient Safety, to talk to her about the work being done by the Patient Safety Response Team. This new team has been set up to speed up the time it takes to investigate concerns or incidents, and to take immediate actions to prevent harm to patients.

Secretary of State for Health and Social Care Jeremy Hunt said:

“It is clear to see that patients in Coventry and Warwickshire are benefiting from the deeply embedded culture of safety at UHCW.

“Leaders at the trust were early adopters of all national patient safety initiatives, and by encouraging staff to take them even further, they’ve adapted them to meet the needs of their patients locally, setting an example for the rest of the NHS.”

Professor Andy Hardy, CEO of UHCW NHS Trust, said:

“I was proud to welcome Jeremy Hunt to UHCW, and to show him the fantastic work that our staff have been doing to improve the safety of the care we provide to patients.

“The Secretary of State was particularly impressed to receive an update on the work we have been doing as part of our five-year partnership with the Virginia Mason Institute to improve the reporting and investigating of patient safety incidents.

“We were also able to tell him about how we had managed to significantly reduce the number of cases of healthcare-associated infections, and to increase awareness of Sepsis. I am so proud of the achievements by all our staff to improve care for all our patients across Coventry and Warwickshire and beyond.”