16th September 2026

Integrated approach highlighted on World Patient Safety Day

Tomorrow is the World Health Organization’s (WHO) World Patient Safety Day 2026. This year the focus is on non-communicable diseases (NCDs); long-term conditions such as cardiovascular diseases, cancers, diabetes and chronic respiratory diseases, that often require ongoing care throughout life, and frequent interactions with health services.

According to WHO, strong, integrated health systems and a supported health workforce are essential for safe care.

The Government’s 10 year plan for England, published in 2025, proposes a move to a Neighbourhood Health Service, bringing care into local communities, by bringing professionals into patient-centred teams to ensure they receive joined up care.

Jo Reynolds, Your Healthcare’s patient safety specialist, comments: “Our experience and expertise delivering care in the community puts us in a strong position to play a key role in the new ‘neighbourhood health service,’ specifically around integrated neighbourhood teams and working together to improve care for people living with frailty.

“We have first-hand experience within our own organisation of the significant benefits of an integrated approach, and of the positive effects this can have on patient safety and experience. Many people with non-communicable diseases are seen regularly by our community nursing teams, and to facilitate a joined-up approach, our community nurses are based alongside, and work seamlessly with, community matrons, the 2-hour urgent care response team, our specialist nurses and our care homes nursing team. Within the wider organisation our rehabilitation therapists operate from the same base and have frequent interactions with these colleagues.

“Relationships with Kingston’s social care teams, Kingston and Richmond NHS Foundation Trust and voluntary sector organisations are excellent, and a shared digital care record makes communication with primary care colleagues particularly effective.”

Recognition by WHO of the importance of having a supported workforce reflects research which shows that engaged staff deliver better quality care, with lower patient mortality, and better reporting of errors, near misses and incidents.[1] The Your Healthcare staff member survey, completed by 80% of the workforce, consistently shows high levels of engagement, usually around 90%. In the 2026 survey 97% of staff agreed that ‘YH is a good organisation to work for’ and 98% said they had a good working relationship with colleagues.

Jo Reynolds added: “Keeping our service users safe is a fundamental part of who we are at Your Healthcare. It is a vital element of our culture, a starting point for service development and delivery, and something that is reviewed at all levels of the organisation.

“We know that in addition to adopting a joined-up approach and continuing to support our staff members, a third vital aspect of delivering safe, high-quality care is learning from people with lived experience. As our Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement Strategy becomes further embedded within the organisation, we look forward to seeing the voices of our service users feature more prominently in decision-making, service design and policy development during 2026-27.”