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Critical incident reporting in UK intensive care units: a postal survey
Author(s) -
Thomas A. N.,
Pilkington C. E.,
Greer R.
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
journal of evaluation in clinical practice
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.737
H-Index - 73
eISSN - 1365-2753
pISSN - 1356-1294
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-2753.2003.00375.x
Subject(s) - interquartile range , medicine , incident report , intensive care unit , intensive care , emergency medicine , medical prescription , medical emergency , medline , family medicine , intensive care medicine , nursing , surgery , forensic engineering , political science , law , engineering
Rationale, aims and objectives To review critical incident reporting in UK intensive care units (ICUs). Methods We conducted a postal survey of clinical directors of UK ICUs to ask if critical incident reporting was used in their ICU. Using a structured questionnaire, we also asked for details of critical incident reporting systems and for changes introduced as a result of incident reporting. Results and conclusions Eighty‐six of a total of 256 questionnaires were returned. Sixty‐one units had been using a critical incident reporting system for a median duration of 3 years (interquartile range 2–5 years). There were wide variations in the structures of reporting systems between units. A median of four (interquartile range 3–8) critical incidents were reported per unit per month. In 141 changes, the development of protocols and guidelines (18) and changes in drug prescription and checking (20) were most common. A more consistent approach to reporting could improve patient care and 65 responders felt that a national reporting system was potentially useful.