Incidents

Policy

RNZCGP advise that general practices should remain on the 2017 National Adverse Events Policy at this stage, rather than transitioning to the new 2023 National Adverse Events Policy. RNZCGP are still working with HQSC to identify how the new national policy will apply to general practice.

We have a duty to report and investigate accidents, incidents, adverse events, and near misses. This includes any event that could have, or did, cause harm to a patient, staff member, or visitor. The practice meets regulatory time frames for reporting and ensures staff are trained in what to do in the event of an accident, incident, or near miss.

Incidents as a result of patient health care are also adverse events, e.g. vaccination reactions. medication or treatment errors, or missed screening recalls.

We have a no-blame culture, and encourage staff to report incidents, adverse events, and near misses. Incidents are investigated, and monitored to help identify patterns. If appropriate, they are discussed with the practice team to learn from, identify any changes needed, and reduce the risk of them happening again.

At North Avon Medical Centre:

• All incidents are managed by following the incident management procedure. This includes:
  • adverse events that happen as a result of health care and affect patients.
  • incidents affecting patients, visitors, or contractors that relate to health and safety.
  • incidents affecting staff that relate to workplace health and safety.
• Serious adverse events are reported to the Health Quality and Safety Commission, and to the PHO.
• Serious medication reactions are reported to the Centre for Adverse Reactions Monitoring (CARM).
• Incidents subject to mandatory or discretionary reporting are reported to the relevant body, as appropriate.

Notifiable workplace incidents are reported as soon as possible after we become aware of them.

See also Incident Reporting Guidelines and Blood or Body Fluid Exposure.

Keywords: adverse events, adverse reactions, sentinel events, significant event, reportable events, notifiable events, accident