The European Society of Radiology (ESR) has introduced its ESR Basic Patient Safety Standards and Audit Tool.
The two offerings combine to provide guidance on how to effectively perform audits on the 18 patient safety standards the ESR considers to represent essential good practice in any imaging service. While the standards encompass all aspects of patient safety, they particularly focus on radiation protection, according to the society.
Developed by the ESR Audit and Standards Subcommittee to support departments in auditing their practice, the ESR Audit Tool features a set of templates that will help radiologists and radiographers to assess their compliance with each of the standards. More information on the ESR Audit Tool can be found here, while the Basic Patient Safety Standards and Clinical Audit Templates can be downloaded here.
In the future, the ESR plans to develop additional standards with supporting templates to address radiology service safety, responsiveness, caring, effectiveness, and leadership.
