NHS England published the Patient Safety Incident Response Framework (PSIRF) in 2019. This new framework outlined how NHS organisations should respond to patient safety incidents for the purpose of learning and improvement.
The framework replaced the previous Serious Incident Response Framework, and represented a significant shift in the way the NHS responds to patient safety incidents, centring on compassion and involving those affected; system-based approaches to learning and improvement; considered and proportionate responses; and supportive oversight. To help understand this more, you can watch this helpful short video.
PSIRF is a major step towards improving safety management across the healthcare system in England and is greatly supporting the NHS to embed the key principles of a patient safety culture. It will ensure the NHS focuses on understanding how incidents happen, rather than apportioning blame on individuals, allowing for more effective learning and improvement, and ultimately making NHS care safer for all.
Find out more about PSIRF on the NHS England website. They have also produced a number of podcasts on PSIRF which can be accessed below:
Patient Safety Collaboratives (PSCs) have been commissioned to support the national adoption and scale up of PSIRF with fidelity to the core principles, working in collaboration with partners in NHS England's regional teams. We have been working to support learning and sharing as organisations move through the transition from their Serious Incident Framework to PSIRF. We have also been supporting the emerging patient safety structures within NHS Dorset ICS and NHS Hampshire and Isle of Wight ICS systems and connecting to relevant regional and national networks.
Get in touch
For more information on any of our system safety work, please contact any of the programme managers below.
