Patient Safety Zone

About the Safety, Skills and Improvement Research Collaborative (SKIRC)

SKIRC is a novel initiative that brings together the combined innovative capabilities, expertise and experiences of the long-established ‘Safety and Improvement’ and ‘Clinical Skills’ research & development teams within NES.

The key purpose of SKIRC is to research, design, innovate, implement and evaluate complex educational interventions that focus on facilitating individual, team, organisational and national learning and upskilling of the NHS Scotland workforce. The goal is to improve overall healthcare system performance (e.g. safety, efficiency, productivity, effectiveness) and the wellbeing (e.g. health & safety, experience, joy, satisfaction) of patients, carers and staff groups.

The new partnership has led to the development of a unique educational research and development group with a worldwide reputation in the inter-related fields of patient safety, clinical skills and simulation, quality improvement, and human factors & ergonomics sciences. Building medical education research capacity and capability in these fields is an important objective. Overall, SKIRC provides an exciting platform for integrated joint working within and across NES directorates, territorial and special health boards, higher education institutions and professional bodies. The future aim is to further develop important collaborations in these scientific domains in NHS Scotland and internationally.