Library resource guides: ANZCA & FPM CPD Program resources: Incident reporting

Guide index

Incident reporting

Reporting on adverse events and near misses allows reflection and learning to improve the quality and safety of care. Reporting promotes consideration of why the incident occurred and any future actions (including systems changes) to prevent similar future events.

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May be undertaken via department, unit, or group, but significant contribution to the report is required to claim CPD hours for this activity
May be reported via web-based system or in hard copy, binationally (for example: WebAIRS), nationally, regionally, or locally (for example: department, unit, group practice).

Report an anaesthetic incident - via WebAIRS
Create a critical incident report or attend a related meeting
Undertake anaesthesia-related mortality reports activities
Participate in an ANSafe, IRAM or RiskMan or similar activity or reporting
Present an incident case study
Prepare an incident report for internal reporting purposes
Report an unexpected PICU admission
Submit a report via a state-based system such as Datix, SCIDUA, VHIMS

See also: Quality improvement project for quality improvement (QI) activities or reporting

CPD Value: CPD participants may claim this under the Practice evaluation - measuring outcomes incident reporting activity.

At times anaesthesia practice can take an emotional toll - please seek support if adverse events become personally stressful.

External reports

ANZCA: Anaesthetic incident reporting: Reporting anaesthesia-related mortality to your department of health
The ANZCA Anaesthetic incident reporting webpage provides links to the websites of the different jurisdictional reporting bodies in Australia and New Zealand and their published reports.

New Zealand: POMRC (Perioperative Mortality Review Committee)
ACT: ACTASM (The Australian Capital Territory Audit of Surgical Mortality)
NT: NTASM (The Northern Territory Audit of Surgical Mortality)
NSW: SCIDUA (The Special Committee Investigating Deaths Under Anaesthesia)
QLD: QPPAMRC (The Queensland Perioperative and Periprocedural Anaesthetic Mortality Review Committee)
SA: SAAMC (The South Australian Anaesthetic Mortality Committee)
VIC: VPCC (The Victorian Perioperative Consultative Council)
TAS: TAAM (The Tasmanian Audit of Anaesthesia Mortality)
WA: WAAMC (The Western Australian Anaesthetic Mortality Committee)

RACS: Surgical mortality audits
The Australian and New Zealand Audit of Surgical Mortality (ANZASM) is an independent, external peer review of surgical mortality in all states and territories of Australia. The purpose of an audit is to review all deaths that occur during an episode of surgical care and to provide opportunities for improvements in patient outcomes.
RCOA: National Audit Projects (NAPS)
The National Audit Projects (NAPs) are internationally recognised as important reports with potentially significant impact on anaesthetic practice and patient outcome. The topics selected for each NAP must be important to patients and anaesthetists, and be incompletely studied in incidence or nature.

External resources

ACSQHC: Australian Register of Clinical Registries
The Commission has developed the Australian Register of Clinical Registries (the Register) to facilitate collaboration and awareness of registry activity among key stakeholders.
Datix Clinical Incident Management System (CIMS) [WA]
The clinical incident management system (CIMS) refers to an organisation’s approved nominated information system used to notify, report and investigate clinical incidents. It may also include functions to evaluate identified recommendations.
Queensland Perioperative and Periprocedural Anaesthetic Mortality Review Committee (QPPAMRC)
QPPAMRC collects and analyses clinical information regarding perioperative and periprocedural anaesthetic mortality in Queensland to identify statewide specific trends; makes recommendations to the Minister for Health on standards and quality indictors of perioperative and periprocedural anaesthetic clinical care to enable health providers in Queensland to improve safety and quality; assists with the adoption of such standards in both public and private sectors.
Special Committee Investigating Deaths Under Anaesthesia (SCIDUA) [NSW]
The Special Committee Investigating Deaths Under Anaesthesia (SCIDUA) reviews deaths which occur while under, as a result of, or within 24 hours following the administration of anaesthesia or sedation for procedures of a medical, surgical, dental or investigative nature.
Special Committee Investigating Deaths Under Anaesthesia (SCIDUA): Reports and Publications
Victorian Health Incident Management System (VHIMS)
The Victorian Health Incident Management System (VHIMS) is a standardised dataset for the collection and classification of clinical, occupational health and safety (OH&S) incidents, near misses and hazards. Incident information collected in VHIMS helps to drive local and statewide improvements in quality, safety and patient experience.

WebAIRS

webAIRS
webAIRS stands for web-based Anaesthetic Incident Reporting System. It's an online reporting tool available to all anaesthetic departments in Australia and New Zealand. The system was developed by the Australian and New Zealand Tripartite Anaesthetic Data Committee (ANZTADC).

Incidents
News
Events
Publications
FAQ

WebAIRS articles
Full-text access to WebAIRS-related articles.

ANZCA: Anaesthetic incident reporting
We oversee a range of incident reporting activities in Australia and New Zealand, including mortality reporting and webAIRS, to ensure that we continue to be two of the safest countries in the world to undergo anaesthesia.

ANZCA & FPM resources

CPD Activity Guide
This guide contains a list of all the activities associated with the ANZCA and FPM CPD Program, as well as links to associated individual activity guides and forms.

ANZCA: Critical Incident Debriefing (CID) Toolkit
Our Critical Incident Debriefing Toolkit provides a comprehensive, evidence-based resource on what are critical incidents, how to provide support and a hot debrief following a critical incident. It can be read in sections or as a whole.
ANZCA: Safety & Quality Resources Library Guide
This guide contains resources and information to complement those on the ANZCA Safety & Advocacy website. It includes a list of relevant college professional documents (policies, position statements, guidelines).
ANZCA: Safety & Advocacy Hub
This hub brings together resources related to safety, standards of practice - including anaesthetic incident reporting (webAIRS), critical incident debriefing, advocacy, and indigenous and global health, including those resources available through the ANZCA library.
ANZCA: Trauma Library Guide
This guide has been designed to provide information and resources related to trauma, including those available through the ANZCA library
ANZCA: Wellbeing Library Guide
ANZCA Library has compiled a list of support resources relevant to the general wellbeing of medical practitioners.

ANZCA: College Publications
Our publications keep members up-to-date and lift the profile of anaesthesia and pain medicine with policy makers and in the wider community. Includes ANZCA Bulletin, the Blue Book, APM: SE, Safety of Anaesthesia Reports, Standards for Anaesthesia and Perioperative Care.

Additional resources

Adverse Patient Safety Event Policy by Safer Care Victoria The Adverse Patient Safety Events (APSE) policy supports in-scope Victorian health services to improve systems for delivering care in response to adverse events. APSEs will be referred to as ‘adverse events’ throughout this policy.
Publication Date: July 2023
Anaesthetic and Perioperative Complications by Kamen Valchanov; Stephen T. Webb; Jane Sturgess [eds]
Call Number: 617.96041 ANA
ISBN: 9781107002593
Publication Date: 2011-09-22
This text has chapters on: Record keeping; Incident reporting
Best Practice Guide to Clinical Incident Management. 2e by State of Queensland (Department of Health) The Best Practice Guide to Clinical Incident Management has been developed as a statewide resource to support Queensland Health staff responsible for, or involved in managing, analysing and learning from patient safety incidents in healthcare settings.
Publication Date: January 2023
Clinical Incident Management Toolkit by Clinical Excellence Division, WDepartment of Health Western Australian The toolkit and resources are accurate at the time of publication. Please check the WA health CIM website and links in the further resources and templates for any updated processes or templates since the time of this publication.
Publication Date: 2019
Incident Management Guide by Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care (ACSQHC) his guide provides the healthcare workforce a concise overview of the incident management process and its underlying principles. It consolidates best practice approaches based on literature reviews and the Australian states’ and territories’ incident management policies.
ISBN: 9781922563309
Publication Date: 2021