The Scottish Patient Safety Programme recognises the complexities involved in delivering modern healthcare, and so it has been designed to standardise approaches to care. There is good research to show which interventions make a difference when it comes to protecting patient safety, and these will be implemented uniformly in acute hospitals across the country.

Over the next five years, steps will be taken to:

• Ensure early interventions for deteriorating patients
• Deliver evidence-based care to prevent deaths from heart attack
• Prevent adverse drug events
• Prevent central line infections
• Prevent surgical site infections
• Prevent ventilator associated pneumonia
• Prevent pressure ulcers
• Reduce staphylococcus aureus (MRSA plus MSSA) infection
• Prevent harm from high alert medications
• Reduce surgical complications
• Deliver evidence-based care for congestive heart failure
• Drive a change in the safety culture in NHS organisations