Incidents

‘If you do not know about it, you can't fix it’ is a philosophy espoused by the Veteran Administration Healthcare System in the USA. Every NHS institution has an incident recording system. This requires the incident to be graded and prompt relevant local investigation to be carried out. If serious, a more formal internal investigation must be undertaken by the organization.

Serious untoward incidents

A serious untoward incident (SUI) is a category of serious incident for which a specified procedure must be followed, including reporting to external authorities and the Board of the trust. An SUI requires investigation in more depth. The criteria which trigger an SUI include unanticipated death or serious harm, following a clear failure of what is regarded as a normal service, especially if the incident is likely to attract media attention or cause public concern.