The new Patient Safety Incident Response Framework (PSIRF) and supporting guidance has now been published. This replaces the Serious Incident Framework which has governed the process of investigating patient safety incidents within NHS-funded healthcare for almost the last decade.
The new framework will help NHS-funded healthcare providers investigate and respond to serious incidents more effectively. It removes the ‘Serious Incidents’ classification. In its place it promotes a proportionate approach to responding to patient safety incidents, to get a balance between the resources allocated to learning and those needed to deliver improvement. The PSIRF includes the following key aims:
- Compassionate engagement and involvement of those affected by patient safety incidents
- Application of a range of system-based approaches to learning from patient safety incidents
- Considered and proportionate responses to patient safety incidents
- Supportive oversight focused on strengthening response system functioning and improvement
Organisations should be enabled to provide a tailored approach focused on their local priorities.
Timeframe for transition
PSIRF has already been adopted by a number of healthcare organisations (early adopters) and is now a contractual requirement under the NHS Standard Contract for acute, ambulance, mental health, community, maternity and all specialised services. Primary care providers are not required to adopt PSIRF at this stage although they are welcome to do so.
The expectation is that organisations will transition from the current Serious Incident Framework to PSIRF by Autumn 2023.
Impact
As PSIRF looks to overhaul the current system completely, this is likely to make many organisations apprehensive on how they will adapt to this new way of investigating serious incidents in real time. We think the main challenges will be around:
- How to deal with current and potential serious incidents that occur during the transition period
- Ensuring staff are up to speed and the new processes are embedded across their organisations at a time when resources are already stretched.
- Engaging with local coroners and patient groups so the process delivers what they need
Next steps
Do not worry, we are here to help! We are running an interactive session on PSIRF on the afternoon 12 October 2022. Our session will focus upon the practical aspects of implementation, providing a forum for delegates to share ideas and work with their local network to effectively transition to PSIRF. We will be joined by a number of early adopters to draw upon their invaluable experience. We will be exploring how the new Framework impacts external investigations, particularly Coronial investigations, to better support you to navigate these changes and improve patient outcomes.
More details will follow shortly, and we do hope you can make it.
For further information, please contact:
Joanna Trewin, Hill Dickinson
joanna.trewin@hilldickinson.com
