Patient Safety Commissioner for Scotland Bill: child rights and wellbeing impact assessment screening

1. Brief Summary

Name the policy, and describe its overall aims. Which National Outcomes does this policy/measure contribute to?

The aim of the legislative proposals are to establish a Patient Safety Commissioner for Scotland (PSC), who will work with patients and members of the public to make improvements to patient safety. This was one of the recommendations in Baroness Cumberlege's First Do No Harm report on the safety of medicines and medical devices.

The PSC would have a statutory obligation to focus on:

• promoting and improving patient safety, chiefly by amplifying the patient voice within the patient safety system; and
• promoting better coordination across the patient safety landscape in Scotland.

This is a new Parliamentary office, which is to benefit patients across the whole population of Scotland, regardless of age. This office is not intended to replace existing mechanisms for raising concerns or providing feedback on health services, such as the NHS model complaints handling process, and so the PSC will not deal with individual complaints.

The policy contributes to the following National Outcomes:

• Children and Young People: We grow up loved, safe and respected so that we realise our full potential; and
• Health: we are healthy and active.