System Safety

NHS England has published the new Patient Safety Incident Response Framework (PSIRF) outlining how NHS organisations should respond to patient safety incidents for the purpose of learning and improvement.

The framework will replace the current Serious Incident Response Framework by Autumn 2023 and represents 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.

PSIRF is a major step towards improving safety management across the healthcare system in England and will greatly support 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 patients.

Find out more about PSIRF on the NHS England website.

Patient Safety Collaboratives have been commissioned to support the national adoption and scale up of PSIRF with fidelity to core principles, working in collaboration with partners in NHS England’s regional teams. Our offer will include supporting the learning and sharing as organisations go through the preparation period ahead of transition from their existing Serious Incident Framework to PSIRF. We are also working to support the emerging patient safety structures within systems as well as connecting to relevant regional and national networks.