NHS England has launched a new system to alert healthcare professionals of potential threats to patient safety more quickly. The new National Patient Safety Alerting System (NPSAS) issues alerts via the Central Alerting System (CAS), allowing NHS England to cascade alerts quickly to all healthcare settings, including community pharmacies.

The system takes a three-stage approach: stage one ‘warning’ alerts will be issued to highlight potential issues to healthcare staff so that they can take immediate action. If stage one requires further action, a stage two ‘resource’ alert will follow with more in-depth information and advice. If necessary, a stage three ‘directive’ alert will be sent out, requiring organisations to confirm that they have undertaken action.

Dr Mike Durkin, director of patient safety, NHS England, described the new system as “an improved, more flexible and more effective method for highlighting risks in patient care”.