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The Leeds
Teaching Hospitals
NHS Trust

Understanding the
Ward Patient Safety
Board
Information for patients
and visitors
Patient Safety Board Information
The Patient Safety Boards allow each ward to share with staff,
patients and families the performance of that ward. Each
month the ward performance is measured against several
different elements. This leaflet explains those elements.

1. Performance dial

Red = 0% to 80% Amber = 80% to 90% Green = 90% to 100%

This dial shows how the ward is doing. It is based on

information collected from an audit carried out by senior
nurses each month.
The paler arrow shows the ward’s performance last month
and the darker arrow shows this month’s performance.
The percentage figures show the ward’s overall progress in
achieving key care standards.

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2. Spider diagram (blue is good)

This ‘spider’ diagram is produced from information collected

from the monthly audit carried out by senior nurses. The
audit asks several questions on the13 topics shown on the
spider diagram. A calculation is then done to produce the
percentage scores shown in the dial.
The more blue colour on the spider diagram the better the
ward is doing.

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3. Ten Key Steps
The ten key steps are the areas of work that the ward team is
working on to make improvements, following the monthly audit.
There are six key steps for staff to work on and four for
patients to help reduce risks.
For example, the information below shows the four steps for
patients and families to consider to help reduce the risk of falls.

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The Leeds
Teaching Hospitals
NHS Trust

Falls
10 Key Steps

You can help by:

7 Trying not to leave things on the floor around
your bed that you may trip over

Always put your slippers or shoes

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on when walking

9 Tell the nurses if you have fallen at home

or use any walking aids

Make sure your call bell is in reach

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before the nurse or your visitors leave

MID Ref: 20171128_002/RC Publication Date: November 2017 2nd Edition (Ver 1.0) LN003833

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4. Friends and Family Test

The sample information above is the Friends and Family Test

(FFT). This is a simple survey which asks patients whether they
would recommend the NHS service they have received to
friends and family who need similar treatment or care.
The question is - How likely are you to recommend our ward
to friends and family if they needed similar care or treatment?
The star rating (1-5) is based on all responses received, both
positive and negative.
The Net Promoter Score is the proportion of patients who
would strongly recommend, minus those who would not
recommend or are indifferent.
The Response Rate shows the proportion of patients who
returned the questionnaire.
If you are a patient you can get a card on the ward to
comment.

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5. Staffing levels

The staffing levels poster shows you how many Registered

Nurses and Care Support Workers there should be on each
shift and how many there are today.
There may be reasons for the reduced number of staff per
shift, for example there may be less patients on the ward or
a member of staff has gone of sick. The staffing levels are
checked by the nurse in charge of each shift.

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6. Harm Free Care

This poster shows how many days it is since one of these

events occurred on the ward. These harms are counted each
month and the absence of harm is calculated as a % - this is
called Harm Free Care.
There are links available to the ‘Open and Honest’ page on
our website and to the ‘Harm Free Care’ website.

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© The Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust • 2nd edition (Ver 1) LN000804
Developed by: Breeda Columb, Head Of Nursing - Professional Practice Publication date
& Safety Standards 11/2019
Produced by: Medical Illustration Services • MID code: 20191101_008/RC Review date
11/2022