Safety and risk management in hospitals.

Background: Patient safety is a key concern for health care professionals, governments, public bodies and researchers around the world. It also remains a presiding focus of our work here at the Health Foundation. Over the last few years, many studies have been conducted to assess the prevalence, severity and causes of a large variety of different types of adverse events in hospitals, as well as the effectiveness of various approaches to enhance safety. This report: This systematic review synthesises the evidence on the effectiveness of detection, mitigation and actions to reduce risks in hospitals and identifies and describes components of interventions responsible for effectiveness. Who should read this report: This report provides a very useful guide for those in policy-making or practice interested in improving the quality of healthcare by drawing together key studies and navigating some of the complex issues associated with assessing complex processes