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Safer Together: A Whole System Response to Harm and Risk

11:15 – 12:30

Safer Together is NHS Forth Valley’s whole-system safety improvement collaborative programme, designed to improve outcomes and reduce harm across acute, community, mental health and care home settings through a coordinated, data-driven approach. Delivered using the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) Breakthrough Series methodology, it brings multidisciplinary teams together to test, learn and scale evidence-based interventions.

This session will demonstrate how structured collaboration across professions, organisations and care settings can accelerate improvement at scale. It will highlight key safety priorities, including deterioration, falls, frailty and infection prevention, alongside the use of a shared measurement framework and system-wide learning.

Delegates will gain practical insight into building a unified improvement infrastructure, overcoming challenges such as governance alignment and data quality, and strengthening multidisciplinary engagement. Early outcomes and next steps, including plans for Safer Together 2.0, will be shared, alongside opportunities to adapt and replicate this model across other NHS Boards.

Speakers

Douglas High

Douglas High

Deputy Chief Nurse for Workforce Optimisation, NHS Forth Valley

Douglas High is a senior nurse leader within NHS Forth Valley with expertise in quality management, workforce governance and patient safety.
David Watson

David Watson

Director of Acute and Corporate Nursing, NHS Forth Valley

Dr David Watson is Corporate and Acute Director of Nursing at NHS Forth Valley and an Honorary Associate Clinical Professor at the University of Stirling.
Lucy Atalla

Lucy Atalla

Quality and Patient Safety Lead, NHS Forth Valley

Lucy Atalla is a Quality Improvement leader within NHS Forth Valley, with a focus on advancing quality, patient safety and whole system improvement.
Professor Karen Goudie

Professor Karen Goudie

Executive Nurse Director, NHS Forth Valley

Professor Karen Goudie is Executive Nurse Director at NHS Forth Valley and Honorary Clinical Professor at the University of Stirling.