The Patient Safety Incident Response Framework (PSIRF) is a key part of the NHS patient safety strategy. The PSIRF sets out the NHS’s approach to developing and maintaining effective systems and processes for responding to patient (member or service user) safety incidents for the purpose of learning and improving patient safety.

The PSIRF replaces the Serious Incident Framework (SIF 2015) and represents a significant shift in the way the NHS responds to patient safety incidents. It is a contractual requirement under the NHS Standard Contract and as such is mandatory for services provided under that contract, including all Lifecraft services that are commissioned by NHS Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Integrated Care Board.

Within the context of Lifecraft the people who use our services are referred to as members or service users rather than patients. For the purpose of this guidance, and to ensure alignment with NHS requirements, where patients are referred to, please read members or service users as appropriate. 

PSIRF processes and guidance

Our PSIRF processes and guidance will apply to Lifecraft’s employees and volunteers. The framework and learning response tools will aim to involve people across the whole organisation. We will be developing and implementing our guidance and processes over the next 12-months, ready to review our approach in March 2027.

The Framework includes four key aims:

1. Compassionate involvement of those affected by patient safety incidents (promoting a coordinated and data-informed approach to safety incident responses).
2. Use of a range of system-based approaches to learning from patient safety incidents.
3. Considered and proportionate responses to safety incidents.
4. Supportive oversight and management with a focus on strengthening response systems, learning and improvement rather than apportioning blame.

We are committed to embracing the principles of the PSIRF to create a safe, transparent, and responsive environment for our members, service users, clients, employees and volunteers. Our focus is on ensuring that lessons are learned from incidents and that these lessons result in improvements in our practices and processes. Reporting them supports us to learn from mistakes and to take action to keep people safe.