Opportunity to have your say on the redesign of Serious Adverse Incident procedure

Things can and do go wrong in health and social care. There is an expectation that when things do go wrong, HSC organisations treat those affected with respect, compassion and honesty. That they help members of the public understand what happened and they demonstrate that they have learned from the incident, to reduce the risk of it happening again.

Recommendations arising from a number of Inquiries and Reviews have contributed to a clear and strong evidence base underpinning the need to redesign the current approach to learning following Adverse Incidents and SAIs. The Department of Health is therefore holding a public consultation on the redesign of the current Serious Adverse Incident (SAI) procedure in Northern Ireland. The SAI review process is intended to play an important role in securing improvements in the quality and safety of health and social care (HSC) services by ensuring that incidents are identified, reported and investigated as appropriate so that learning can be shared across the HSC system. 

Some of the key aims of the new draft Framework include:

• Providing a more streamlined and simplified process for reviewing Patient Safety Incidents, to ensure reviews are of a high quality;
• Place all those affected at the heart of the process;
• Focus on understanding how and why a Patient Safety Incident has occurred to identify system-wide learning leading to demonstrable and sustainable improvements in care.

The proposed framework for Learning and Improvement from Patient Safety Incidents will form a key part of the HSC’s patient safety system and it is therefore crucially important that it is the right approach.

The Department of Health would therefore like to hear directly from the public on these important proposals.

The PCC is facilitating an online consultation event, to be led by Department of Health officials, on Thursday 15th May 2025, at 17:30* This event will also assist those intending to make a written response to the consultation.

*The Department of Health would have liked to provide further notice to potential attendees, but this has not been possible on this occasion due to other unavoidable commitments.

We encourage individuals with experience of the existing SAI review process to register for the event, as well as those who do not.

PCC recognises that many people who have an experience of a SAI review want to tell their story and have their experience understood. We recognise that having your voice heard is vitally important and upon registering for this event, we will provide you with an opportunity to anonymously record your experience in writing, which we will submit to the Department of Health. This will also allow us to focus on the consultation proposals during the limited time available during the event.

A short briefing paper on the main proposals will be provided ahead to the event.

Related documents: 

• The Framework for Learning and Improvement from Patient Safety Incidents
• Regional Standards for the Conduct of Patient Safety Incident Learning Reviews
• Principles for Engaging, Involving and Supporting All those Affected by a Patient Safety Incident
• Principles for Engaging, Involving and Supporting Staff Affected by a Patient Safety Incident

To register your interest in attending, please complete the form on the PCC website: Opportunity to have your say on the redesign of Serious Adverse Incident procedure