Recurring concern
Inadequate safety incident investigations
First reported 13 Dec 2008•Latest report 25 Jun 2026
What this concern includes
Includes initiation, evidence gathering, witness testing, factual accuracy, analysis, timeliness, investigator competence and reporting within investigations of deaths, serious incidents and patient, resident or operational safety events.
Not included
- Police, conduct, regulatory or other investigations not directed at organisational safety learning
- Failure to implement an unrelated safety action not arising from an incident investigation
- Generic governance failures not directly affecting a safety incident investigation or its learning process
- Excludes downstream dissemination, learning and corrective-action controls once the investigation findings have been established.
- Reports
- 244
- Individual concerns
- 316
- Date range
- 2008–2026
- Stated actions
- 447
Distinct published reports
A report can raise multiple concerns
First to latest report issue date
Described in published responses
Reports over time
Reports over time
Reports about this concern issued each year.
* 2026 is projected from reports observed to 7 Sep 2026.
Most frequent recipients
Most frequent recipients
Reports about this concern sent to each recipient.
Concerns and responses across reports
Only concerns grouped under this recurring concern are included. Select any concern, action or position to view the source wording.
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Concerns raised1
Failure to include involved registrars’ input in untoward incident investigations
This report raised 6 other concerns. They are not shown here because they do not form part of this recurring concern.
Responses linked to these concernsEach statement is shown once, even when linked to more than one concern.
No linked response statementsNo respondent-stated action or position is linked to these concerns in the published data.
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Concerns raised1
Failure to test care home employees’ accounts during investigations
This report raised 4 other concerns. They are not shown here because they do not form part of this recurring concern.
Responses linked to these concernsEach statement is shown once, even when linked to more than one concern.
No linked response statementsNo respondent-stated action or position is linked to these concerns in the published data.
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Concerns raised1
Failure to undertake a serious incident review after a patient death shortly after discharge
This report raised 4 other concerns. They are not shown here because they do not form part of this recurring concern.
Responses linked to these concernsEach statement is shown once, even when linked to more than one concern.
Actions described in response An action is something a respondent says it has done, is doing, or plans to do in response to the concern raised.1
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Action
Contact provider organisations early and agree responsibility for reporting and serious-incident investigations.
Stated by Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS Foundation Trust
Respondent positions A position is what a respondent says about the concern when they do not describe a specific action.1
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Position
Responsibility for reporting and leading the serious incident investigation was assigned to the lead provider, while the Trust expected to participate.
Stated by Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS Foundation Trust
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Concerns raised3
Inaccuracies in internal investigation reports
Insufficient and perfunctory investigations of patient deaths
Failure to interview key witnesses during investigations
This report raised 2 other concerns. They are not shown here because they do not form part of this recurring concern.
Responses linked to these concernsEach statement is shown once, even when linked to more than one concern.
Actions described in response An action is something a respondent says it has done, is doing, or plans to do in response to the concern raised.4
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Action
Rewrite and implement the serious incident investigation policy with guidance on reporting, investigation, best practice, system failures and record-keeping standards.
Stated by Tameside and Glossop Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust -
Action
Introduce an Executive-led Serious Incident Review Panel to scrutinise investigation reports and action plans and require clinical leads to report changes and learning.
Stated by Tameside and Glossop Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust -
Action
Train senior officers across all divisions in root-cause analysis and incident investigation through external facilitation.
Stated by Tameside and Glossop Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust
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Action
Require Directors to review each serious incident and assign an investigation level, team and relevant professional advice.
Stated by Tameside and Glossop Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust
Respondent positions A position is what a respondent says about the concern when they do not describe a specific action.1
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Position
Existing serious incident processes provide significant assurance that appropriate systems and processes are in place.
Stated by Tameside and Glossop Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust
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Concerns raised3
Failure to maintain independence between clinical responsibility and SUI investigation
Failure to identify and address inadequacies in an operating surgeon's statement and SUI
Failure to read source statements before signing off an SUI Report
This report raised 9 other concerns. They are not shown here because they do not form part of this recurring concern.
Responses linked to these concernsEach statement is shown once, even when linked to more than one concern.
Actions described in response An action is something a respondent says it has done, is doing, or plans to do in response to the concern raised.1
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Action
Strengthen serious-incident investigations through revised governance processes, independent investigator requirements, weekly senior oversight, external submission and Trust Board reporting.
Stated by United Lincolnshire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust
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Concerns raised1
Failure of SI reports to consider dehydration as a possible cause of acute renal failure
This report raised 6 other concerns. They are not shown here because they do not form part of this recurring concern.
Responses linked to these concernsEach statement is shown once, even when linked to more than one concern.
Actions described in response An action is something a respondent says it has done, is doing, or plans to do in response to the concern raised.1
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Action
Operate a multidisciplinary Serious Incident Review Group meeting fortnightly to review investigations and reports before closure.
Stated by Survey and Sussex NHS Healthcare NHS Trust
Respondent positions A position is what a respondent says about the concern when they do not describe a specific action.1
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Position
The Trust disputes that its investigation failed to recognise dehydration as a possible cause of acute kidney injury.
Stated by Survey and Sussex NHS Healthcare NHS Trust
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Concerns raised1
Failure to conduct a formal Serious Incident Investigation
This report raised 3 other concerns. They are not shown here because they do not form part of this recurring concern.
Responses linked to these concernsEach statement is shown once, even when linked to more than one concern.
No linked response statementsNo respondent-stated action or position is linked to these concerns in the published data.
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Concerns raised1
Failure of internal methadone-related death inquiries to draw on external research
This report raised 3 other concerns. They are not shown here because they do not form part of this recurring concern.
Responses linked to these concernsEach statement is shown once, even when linked to more than one concern.
No linked response statementsNo respondent-stated action or position is linked to these concerns in the published data.
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Concerns raised1
Failure to produce accurate and reliable investigation reports
This report raised 3 other concerns. They are not shown here because they do not form part of this recurring concern.
Responses linked to these concernsEach statement is shown once, even when linked to more than one concern.
Actions described in response An action is something a respondent says it has done, is doing, or plans to do in response to the concern raised.3
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Action
Establish named RCA Chairs to oversee investigation scope, team composition, SMART action plans and report sign-off.
Stated by University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust -
Action
Purchase and provide tiered external RCA training for investigation leads, senior safety investigators and RCA Chairs.
Stated by University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust -
Action
Provide senior scrutiny of events causing avoidable death or harm and identify root causes, themes and required safety workstreams.
Stated by University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust
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Concerns raised1
Failure to investigate serious incidents and prevent recurrence
This report raised 4 other concerns. They are not shown here because they do not form part of this recurring concern.
Responses linked to these concernsEach statement is shown once, even when linked to more than one concern.
Actions described in response An action is something a respondent says it has done, is doing, or plans to do in response to the concern raised.1
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Action
Revise the Trust’s Serious Incident process within the wider quality-improvement programme.
Stated by North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust
Data last updated 7 September 2026