Adverse event reviews in healthcare: what matters to patients and their families (9 May 2022)

Summary

An open, collaborative, person-centred approach which listens to, and involves, patients and their families is perceived to lead to improved outcomes. For the patient and their family, it can help with reconciliation following a traumatic event and help restore their faith in the healthcare system. For the health service, listening and involving people will likely enhance learning with subsequent improvements in healthcare provision with reduction in risk of similar events occurring for other patients.

This qualitative study in BMJ Open aimed to explore what ‘good’ patient and family involvement in healthcare adverse event reviews may involve. 19 interviews were conducted with patients who had experienced an adverse event during the provision of their healthcare, or their family member. Four key themes were derived from these interviews: trauma, communication, learning and litigation. The authors concluded that there are many advantages of actively involving patients and their families in adverse event reviews.