Essence of care 2010: benchmarks for safety

The Essence of Care benchmarks are a tool to help healthcare practitioners take a patient-focused and structured approach to sharing and comparing practice. There are 12 benchmarks in total. This document provides the benchmarks for safety, so that people, their carers, visitors and staff feel safe, secure and supported. It starts by considering the general indicators that apply to every factor: people’s experience; diversity and individual needs; effectiveness; consent and confidentiality; people, carer and community members’ participation; leadership; education and training; documentation; service delivery; safety; and safeguarding. It then considers the factors specific to safety, together with their supporting indicators. The factors are: orientation; assessment – risk of injury; assessment – risk to others; observation and privacy; planning, implementation, evaluation and revision of care; and positive culture.