Digital Clinical Safety Award 

hsj digital
Digital Clinical Safety Award 
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How to apply

  1. Register an account.
  2. Start your entry (save it in-progress).
  3. Submit your entry to be in the running.

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Digital technologies can enhance safety by ensuring that critical information is provided in a timely manner and by automating processes to make them more efficient while reducing the risk of error. However, with AI, algorithms and other intelligent systems now being adopted at unprecedented pace across the NHS it is essential that digital innovations are implemented safely to prevent unintended harm. National guidance on AI-enabled tools, the work of the National Commission into the Regulation of AI in Healthcare, and established standards such as DTAC and the clinical risk management standards all underline how central digital clinical safety has become.

This award will go to an organisation, team or project that has gone above and beyond to both ensure the technologies used in health and care are safe, and then using them to further improve patient safety. Finalists will display strong collaboration between different departments and stakeholders to ensure risks are understood and managed effectively, openness in sharing information, and iterative change based on learning from events.

Eligibility

  • All NHS organisations (including providers, partnerships and systems), General Practice and primary care organisations.
  • Evidence must relate to a project, ongoing or completed within the 2 years up until the award entry deadline.

Ambition

The challenge and context within which your project, person or organisation is set alongside your goals and targets whether quantitative or qualitative, and how this aligns with national priorities.

  • Describe the emerging digital patient safety challenges your organisation or health system faces with the rapid rise in digital transformation and AI adoption, and how you are working to alleviate them.
  • Discuss who takes accountability for digital safety, and how you aim to balance the need for quick, agile implementation of new innovations and technologies with the need for safety evidence generation.
  • Outline any specific projects or initiatives undertaken, including their aims, intended measures of success and how they align with national digital clinical safety standards and guidance.

Collaboration

The stakeholders' involvement in co-designing and delivering the project. How have patients, staff at all levels, communities and other parties worked together to realise the outcomes?

  • Describe and provide testimonial evidence of the working relationship between any technology partners (if relevant) and the NHS organisation that enables genuinely co-produced, digitally clinically safe products or projects.
  • Evidence how important information about potential risks is shared across the organisation to ensure appropriate escalation and mitigation activity.
  • Share how patients, staff and the public were included and placed at the heart of digital safety.

Impact

The measurable benefits delivered to patients, staff, your organisation or the wider system. Provide data and evidence showing improvements to outcomes, quality, access, equity or efficiency.

  • Evidence with supporting information the performance of the projects undertaken against targets, including any financial, clinical and safety metrics, with clear before-and-after comparisons.
  • Discuss your mechanisms for clinical risk assessment, incident reporting and response and how these are improving digital clinical safety across the organisation/system.
  • Share how you have ensured technology adoption and implementations across the system comply with relevant standards and regulations, including the DTAC, clinical risk management standards (DCB0129/DCB0160), data security standards and ISO compliance for medical devices, and if possible provide evidence of value creation such as reduced adverse events, improved efficiencies or direct financial savings.

Scale

How your work has been shared, adopted or replicated beyond your immediate team or organisation. This includes dissemination through publications, presentations, toolkits, partnerships or inspiring similar initiatives elsewhere.

  • Describe how you have raised awareness of the importance of digital safety and shared best practice across or beyond your organisation/system, including through publications, presentations, toolkits or networks.
  • Provide evidence that your approach has been adopted or has inspired similar work beyond your organisational boundaries.
  • Discuss the scope for further replication or scaling up of your projects in other settings.

Sustainability

The potential for the project/work to continue and create lasting impact. Evidence of how it can be sustained or built upon.

  • Evidence how you have developed a culture of iterative learning based on feedback loops and/or safety events, to embed digital clinical safety as everyone's responsibility across the organisation or system.
  • Discuss how the commitment to and work within digital clinical safety has provided a boost to the wider vision for patient safety within your organisation/system, and how it will achieve lasting impact.
  • Describe the governance, resource and plans in place to sustain and build upon this work as new technologies emerge.

Digital Clinical Safety Award 

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To find out more

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Awards entry enquiries: Support Team
Judging and event management: Awards Support