The future of NHS patient safety investigation

This consultation focuses on the Serious Incident Framework, and asks whether it should be revised to reduce defensiveness and increase openness so that patients, families, carers and staff are more effectively involved and supported. In highly charged emotional situations, there can be a swell of feeling to find someone to blame and to see action being taken against individuals. In this environment, any investigation that does not give the desired outcome could be viewed as defensive and protecting the professionals involved. Hence there needs to be clarity from the very outset about scope and purpose, and explanations to the families about how the various processes work with clear time frames.