NHS Improvement: Root cause analysis - using five whys (17 January 2018)

Summary

By repeatedly asking the question ‘why?’ (use five as a rule of thumb), you can peel away the layers of a problem to get to the root cause.

Five whys can help you determine the relationship between different root causes of a problem. It is a simple tool and can be completed without statistical analysis. You can use this tool either in isolation or to complement a root cause analysis. Because it quickly helps identify the source of an issue or problem, you can focus resources in the correct areas and ensure you are tackling the true cause of the problem, not just its symptoms.