The Patient Safety Movement Foundation (PSMF), a global non-profit on a mission to achieve zero preventable patient deaths by 2030, has appointed Mike Durkin, OBE, MBBS, FRCA, FRCP, DSc to serve as vice chairman of the board of directors. Dr. Durkin will work alongside Chairman Michael A.E. Ramsay, MD, FRCA to provide guidance and strategic support of the organization’s goal to create safer and more reliable healthcare systems.

“Dr. Durkin has been an invaluable member of the Patient Safety Movement Foundation board since he joined in 2018, and we are pleased he has accepted this leadership role,” said Dr. Ramsay. “His experience leading the National Patient Safety Improvement Programme for the National Health Service (NHS) England and work with the World Health Organization’s international development of patient safety systems make him an ideal fit to help lead our organization as we continue to grow globally.”

Durkin brings 30 years of experience in medical management and leadership to his role with PSMF. He currently maintains positions as the visiting professor and senior advisor on patient safety policy and leadership of the NIHR Patient Safety Translational Research Centre at the Institute of Global Health Innovation at Imperial College London and as associate non-executive director at NHS Resolution. From 2012 to 2017, he served as the national director of patient safety for England’s NHS. Prior to these roles, he held attending, research and teaching positions in cardiovascular anesthesia and critical care at London, Yale and Bristol universities. He served as executive medical director at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital and held successive executive medical director positions for England’s strategic health authorities culminating as the medical director of the NHS for the South of England supporting a population of 16 million people, prior to becoming the national director in 2012. His passion for patient safety led him to assemble the Berwick Advisory Board in 2013 to advise on creating conditions to improve the safety of patients in England. In 2015, he was commissioned by the secretary of state for health to chair an expert advisory group that led to the establishment of the Healthcare Safety Investigation branch. He also headed the development of the Ministerial Inter-Governmental Summits on Patient Safety held in the UK (2016), Germany (2017), Japan (2018) and Saudi Arabia (2019).

“I am honored to be appointed as vice chairman of the board of directors of the Patient Safety Movement Foundation,” states Durkin. “With the recent launch of our new commitment model and amid a global pandemic, I believe the healthcare industry across the globe is ready and prepared for change and I look forward to working alongside the leadership team to further our shared mission.”

Durkin was appointed officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) by Her Majesty The Queen for his services to patient safety and in 2018 was selected as an inaugural member of the International Academy of Safety and Quality. Durkin holds an honorary doctorate from the University of the West of England and he was awarded the highest accolade of the Royal College of Physicians of London for service to patient safety, their Honorary Fellowship in 2017. He is chair of the management board of NICE National Clinical Guideline Centre and sits on multiple national and international research, policy and patient safety advisory boards.

To learn more about the Patient Safety Movement Foundation and its leadership team, visit: https://patientsafetymovement.org/about/

About the Patient Safety Movement Foundation: Each year, more than 200,000 people die unnecessarily in U.S. hospitals. Worldwide, 4.8 million lives are similarly lost. The Patient Safety Movement Foundation (PSMF) is a global non-profit on a mission to eliminate preventable deaths from hospital errors. PSMF uniquely brings patients and patient advocates, healthcare providers, medical technology companies, government, employers and private payers together under the same cause. From its Actionable Patient Safety Solutions and industry Open Data Pledge to its World Patient Safety, Science & Technology Summit and more, PSMF won’t stop fighting until it achieves zero. For more information, please visit patientsafetymovement.org to learn more, and follow PSMF on Linkedin, Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

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