When we think about patient safety, our minds usually go to human healthcare — but our animal patients deserve the same level of attention and care.
Paragon Veterinary Referrals in Wakefield began working with the Improvement Academy in June 2024 on the HUSH (Huddle Up for Safer Healthcare) programme.
What are HUSH Safety Huddles?
HUSH safety huddles are short, structured team meetings that give everyone — from senior clinicians to new team members, including agency staff an opportunity to identify potential risks, share observations, and plan safer care together. By creating a predictable space for open communication, huddles help staff surface problems early and collaborate on solutions to identify and help prevent harm before it occurs, based on the core principles:
Following basic principles, these huddles:
Take just 5–10 minutes each day
Are led by whoever is best placed for the team, not necessarily a manager
Focus on one clear priority chosen by the team
Use the skills and knowledge of team members to proactively discuss measures to reduce risk
Ensure agreed actions are followed up on and learning is shared
Visualise harm data on a “days between board” to track and celebrate progress
This is not a top-down directive; it is where the people closest to the patients help shape safer practices.
Why Paragon introduced Safety Huddles into their veterinary hospital
Paragon Veterinary Referrals — a busy small-animal referral hospital with about 150 staff members wanted to improve patient safety and team communication. After contacting us in early 2024, we visited their hospital in Wakefield to meet the staff working there and understand their environment.
Medication errors were identified as a key area of concern by the team. After seeing how effective HUSH safety huddles had been in the NHS and other healthcare sectors, they decided to pilot safety huddles with their inpatient care teams, starting with their dispensary team.
By September 2024, safety huddles were embedded across the hospital. Alongside this, staff surveys measuring teamwork, communication, and safety culture helped guide improvements and boosted enthusiasm for the daily huddles.
The Impact: Fewer Errors, Stronger Teams
The results speak for themselves:
- Ten medication error-free weeks achieved in five months after starting testing huddles — the same number they had seen across an entire year previously.
- Average days between incidents increased from 2.6 to 5.7 days five months after embedding safety huddles.
- 25% overall reduction in all medication errors.
- Improved communication within teams revealed mistakes that previously went unnoticed.
But beyond the numbers, the main shift has been cultural. Staff report feeling more heard, supported, and confident to speak up — a cornerstone of safer care.
Recognition & Next Steps
In July 2025, Paragon Veterinary Referrals earned first place in the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons Knowledge Award (Quality Improvement in Practice category) for their pioneering work with HUSH safety huddles.
Building on their success in reducing medication errors, Paragon are now expanding their safety huddles to tackle other issues, such as preventing skin incidents relating to incontinence in patients.
