Letting go of the historian: making AARs work as intended under PSIRF (Judy Walker Associates, April 2026)

Summary

Edition 12 of the After Action Review (AAR) newsletter reflects on how After Action Reviews (AARs) are being used in the Patient Safety Incident Review Framework (PSIRF) and argues for a shift away from overly detailed, 'historian-style' reporting towards concise, improvement‑focused summaries that clearly capture learning and agreed actions. Drawing on recent AAR Conductor training, it explores why staff may struggle to let go of exhaustive documentation—linking this to professional identity, perfectionism and misdirected agency—and emphasises that people, not reports, drive safety improvement.