How this fits in

Transitions of care between healthcare settings are known vulnerable times for patients, when one in four people experience a safety incident in the weeks following their discharge from hospital. Existing research does not sufficiently detail the organisational and behavioural context related to the discharge process, or specific clinical groups at risk, therefore policymakers have not been able to effectively identify and address root causes of threats to safe patient transitions. A Delphi consensus process, engaging frontline primary care staff, has identified local safety priorities for patient transitions from hospital to primary care settings within a defined urban area. The detailed information generated by this Delphi study exposes the multifaceted threats to patient safety during this transition. Future work should further explore the environmental and behavioural contexts surrounding discharge to enable the design of effective interventions with successful long-term outcomes.