Transitions in care are high-risk moments for patient safety; whether from hospital to home, mental health settings to community, or across specialties. In this episode, our research experts Dr Natasha Tyler, Dr Richard Keers, and Professor Tom Blakeman dive into why transitions in care can present patient safety challenges and the emotional toll on patients and carers. From medication errors to emotional readiness for discharge, we explore research insights that could reshape the future of safer care transitions.

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Meet the guests

Dr Natasha Tyler

Natasha Tyler is a Research Fellow at the University of Manchester, working within the Division of Population Health, Health Services Research & Primary Care. Her research focuses on patient safety, mental health and care transitions, with a strong emphasis on improving healthcare systems and outcomes through evidence-based interventions and stakeholder involvement. She is currently working on an NIHR Three Schools Mental Health fellowship looking at improving discharge from inpatient mental health services. She began her academic career as a Research Assistant within the former NIHR Greater Manchester Patient Safety Translational Research Centre and has continued to work alongside the GMPSRC. Next year Natasha will return to the GMPSRC working a project that aims to improve discharge from Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services.

Dr Richard Keers

Richard Keers is an academic pharmacist with a background in acute and mental health hospitals. He is a Senior Clinical Lecturer in Pharmacy at the University of Manchester, and Honorary Research Pharmacist with Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust. He is also Academic Career Development Lead for the Greater Manchester Patient Safety Research Collaboration. He is interested in improving medication safety and health services across health settings, and particularly in mental health and prison health care. Richard has been involved in research exploring how common medication safety issues occur when people move between health care settings, and why they might happen, particularly after leaving hospital. He is committed to working together with people with lived experience, carers and health services to create better ways to care for people safely and effectively as they move between care settings.

Prof Tom Blakeman

Thomas Blakeman is a GP and Professor of Primary Care at the Centre for Primary Care and Health Services Research. He serves as Principal Investigator for the NIHR Health Services & Delivery Research Programme study: Apply Systems Thinking to enhance recovery after acute kidney injury (ASTERAKI). He also Co-Lead and Board Member for the NIHR Manchester School for Primary Care Research, Co-Lead for the NIHR Greater Manchester Patient Safety Research Collaboration Developing Safer Health and Care Systems Theme, and Co-Lead for the NIHR Manchester Integrated Academic Training (IAT) Programme.

Related publications:

Supporting carers to improve patient safety and maintain their well-being in transitions from mental health hospitals to the community: A prioritisation nominal group technique. McMullen S, Panagioti M, Planner C, Giles S, Angelakis I, Keers RN, Robinson C, Fu Y, Johnson J, Tyler N. (Health Expect)

Transitional Care Interventions From Hospital to Community to Reduce Health Care Use and Improve Patient Outcomes: A Systematic Review and Network Meta-Analysis. Tyler N, Hodkinson A, Planner C, Angelakis I, Keyworth C, Hall A, Jones PP, Wright OG, Keers R, Blakeman T, Panagioti M. (JAMA Network Open)

Developing Best Practice Guidance for Discharge Planning Using the RAND/UCLA Appropriateness Method.Tyler N, Planner C, Byrne M, Blakeman T, Keers RN, Wright O, Pascall Jones P, Giles S, Keyworth C, Hodkinson A, Taylor CDJ, Armitage CJ, Campbell S, Panagioti M. (Front Psychiatry)

What does safety in mental healthcare transitions mean for service users and other stakeholder groups: An open-ended questionnaire study. Tyler N, Wright N, Panagioti M, Grundy A, Waring J. (Health Expect)

Evaluating a co-designed care bundle to improve patient safety at discharge from adult and adolescent mental health services (SAFER-MH and SAFER-YMH): protocol for a non-randomised feasibility study. Tyler N, Angelakis I, Keers RN, Planner C, Hodkinson A, Giles SJ, Grundy A, Kapur N, Armitage C, Blakeman T, Campbell SM, Robinson C, Leather J, Panagioti M. (BMJ Open)

Medication safety at the interface: evaluating risks associated with discharge prescriptions from mental health hospitals. Keers RN, Williams SD, Vattakatuchery JJ, Brown P, Miller J, Prescott L, Ashcroft DM (Journal of Pharmacy Practice and Research)

Prevalence and Nature of Medication Errors and Medication-Related Harm Following Discharge from Hospital to Community Settings: A Systematic Review. Alqenae FA, Steinke D, Keers RN (Drug Safety)

Understanding the implementation, impact and sustainable use of an electronic pharmacy referral service at hospital discharge: A qualitative evaluation from a sociotechnical perspective. Jeffries M, Keers RN, Belither H, Sanders C, Gallacher K, Alqenae F, Ashcroft DM (PLOS ONE)

A Multi-method Exploratory Evaluation of a Service Designed to Improve Medication Safety for Patients with Monitored Dosage Systems Following Hospital Discharge. Alqenae FA, Steinke D, Belither H, Robertson P, Bartlett J, Wilkinson J, Williams SD, Brad L, Jeffries M, Ashcroft DM, Keers RN (Drug Safety)

Estimating the impact on patient safety of enabling the digital transfer of patients’ prescription information in the English NHS. Camacho EM, Gavan S, Keers RN, Chuter A, Elliott RA (BMJ Quality & Safety)

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