Patient Safety Net

Queensland Health is committed to ensuring the delivery of safe and quality healthcare that supports consumers to achieve better health outcomes.

Patient Safety Net has been developed to provide staff with a straightforward process for raising a patient safety concern they feel has not been addressed adequately through the standard reporting processes.

Queensland Health recognises the important role that all staff play as custodians of patient safety. Patient Safety Net is helping to strengthen clinical governance and improve patient safety in our health services, by addressing some of the existing barriers to reporting and responding to patient safety concerns.

A patient safety concern is defined as potential or actual harm, which may be physical and/or psychological. Patient Safety Net encourages local identification and resolution of a patient safety concern and complements existing patient safety systems. It does not replace, nor negate existing clinical incident management processes, and is not appropriate for urgent patient safety concerns or clinical deterioration.

How staff will access Patient Safety Net

Patient Safety Net can be used by all Queensland Health staff including contractors, agency staff, students and volunteers, and encourages staff to seek local resolution first where possible. Patient Safety Net can be activated by staff (the reporter) via phone, email, face-to-face or via an online portal. The reporter can choose to raise a concern anonymously or request that their details remain confidential. Concerns are received by Patient Safety Stewards who will assess and review all concerns raised. If the concern is not in scope for Patient Safety Net, the steward assists the reporter to access the most appropriate pathway.

Alternate complaint avenues

• Consumers and members of the public will continue to use existing pathways to make a complaint or raise concerns about their care while in hospital when their health condition is getting worse and they feel they are not being heard.
• If Queensland Health staff have concerns about the performance of another health professional or non-clinical worker, these should be discussed in the first instance with the Line Manager or Supervisor. The Line Manager or Supervisor is responsible for escalating a concern of this nature through the correct local processes.
• If concerns exist about the clinical performance of any health professional, either registered or unregistered, and there is a risk to the public, the matter can be reported directly to the Office of the Health Ombudsman.

Patient Safety Net statewide implementation

• Patient Safety Net was progressively implemented in 4 pilot site Hospital and Health Services (HHSs) from October 2023. Gold Coast, Townsville, Childrens Health Queensland and Central Queensland were chosen as the pilot sites.
• A parallel communicating for safety program for all staff, High Value Conversations, is currently being rolled out across the HSSs and the Queensland Ambulance Service (QAS).
• The Patient Safety Net pilot program evaluation was completed in July 2024. Due to the success of implementation, support for the program and the positive impact on patient safety, a statewide rollout has been endorsed.
• A staged rollout is planned to take place throughout 2025 for the remaining HHSs.
• For more information, contact the Patient Safety Net team at patient_safety_net@health.qld.gov.au