Incident reporting and learning procedure checklist

Source anchors

How to use this checklist

Use this checklist to audit whether the service can show a complete incident loop: immediate safety action, factual recording, triage, investigation, external reporting decisions, actions and learning. It can be used monthly, after a serious incident, before governance review, or before an inspection-readiness review.

Incident reporting rules vary by incident type and service model. Check current CQC notification, safeguarding, RIDDOR, commissioner and sector-specific reporting routes before relying on a local deadline.

For each row, record:

Met: evidence is current and complete.
Part met: evidence exists but has a gap or needs follow-up.
Not met: evidence is absent or the control is not working.
Not applicable: the service does not carry out this activity.

Every Part met or Not met item should create an action with an owner and due date.

The PDF is designed for printing, or for completing on screen with a PDF viewer's Fill & Sign, Markup or comment tools. Use those tools to tick boxes and type into the lines.

Service details

Field	Local entry
Service name
Location
Date completed
Completed by
Registered Manager
Incident Lead
Period reviewed
Number of incident records sampled

1. Reporting culture and immediate response

Check	Evidence to review	Status	Action owner	Due date
Staff know what counts as an incident or near miss.	Staff interview, induction record, procedure.
Staff know immediate safety comes before form completion.	Staff interview, incident sample.
Urgent escalation route is clear, including out of hours.	Procedure, on-call rota, staff briefing.
Incident records show immediate action taken.	Incident sample, care record, call note.
People affected and staff involved are supported.	Support note, debrief, communication record.
Evidence is preserved where crime, equipment failure, medicines error or serious harm may be involved.	Incident sample, equipment quarantine, record export.

2. Incident record quality

Check	Evidence to review	Status	Action owner	Due date
Records show date, time, location, people affected and factual description.	Incident sample.
Harm and potential harm are recorded.	Incident sample, clinical review.
Witnesses, staff present and relevant records are identified.	Incident sample, witness notes.
Record avoids speculation, blame or unclear language.	Incident sample.
Late entries or corrections have a clear audit trail.	Audit trail, correction note.
Records identify reviewer and next step.	Incident sample, action log.

3. Triage and investigation

Check	Evidence to review	Status	Action owner	Due date
Each incident is reviewed and graded by a competent person.	Triage note, grading record.
Grading considers actual harm, potential harm and recurrence risk.	Triage note, clinical review.
Investigation depth is proportionate to harm and learning value.	Investigation plan, closure note.
Serious or repeated incidents have senior or independent review where possible.	Review note, governance minute.
Investigation looks beyond individual blame to system causes.	Investigation report, action rationale.
Grading is updated if new information emerges.	Update note, supplementary evidence.

4. Linked duties and external reporting

Check	Evidence to review	Status	Action owner	Due date
Duty of candour is opened or ruled out with reasoning.	Candour decision, linked record.
CQC statutory notification is opened or ruled out with reasoning.	Notification decision, submitted notification.
Safeguarding referral is opened or ruled out with reasoning.	Safeguarding decision, referral receipt.
RIDDOR or other external reporting is considered where applicable.	RIDDOR decision, report receipt, advice note.
Commissioner, police, coroner, professional regulator, DBS or ICO routes are considered where relevant.	Decision record, correspondence.
External reporting is not delayed while internal investigation continues.	Timeline, report date, investigation status.

5. Actions and evidence of learning

Check	Evidence to review	Status	Action owner	Due date
Actions have owner, due date and evidence requirement.	Action log, improvement record.
Actions address causes rather than only closing the incident.	Investigation report, action rationale.
Completion is supported by evidence.	Evidence attachment, audit result, training record.
Effectiveness is checked for higher-risk actions.	Follow-up audit, observation, trend review.
Care plans, risk assessments, policies or training are updated where needed.	Updated documents, briefing record.
Staff and people affected are told about learning where appropriate.	Team briefing, feedback note.

6. Governance and themes

Check	Evidence to review	Status	Action owner	Due date
Incidents are reviewed at governance on a stated cadence.	Governance minutes, incident report.
Review includes repeated people, locations, shifts, teams and incident types.	Theme report, trend chart.
Overdue actions are visible to the Registered Manager.	Action tracker, dashboard.
Repeated or serious incident themes update the risk register.	Risk register, linked incident theme.
Governance records decisions, not only incident counts.	Minutes, action decisions.
Staff training needs from incidents are tracked.	Training matrix, supervision record.

7. Summary judgement

Question	Answer
Which incident type repeated most in the last 12 months?
Which incident has the weakest external reporting decision trail?
Which action is overdue or lacks completion evidence?
Which incident theme should be on the risk register today?
What would a CQC inspector see if they asked for incident learning evidence today?

8. Action log

Action	Source check	Owner	Due date	Completion evidence

9. Completion

Sign-off	Name	Date
Completed by
Reviewed by Registered Manager

This checklist is a working tool. It does not replace live regulator guidance, safeguarding advice, RIDDOR advice, the service's own incident procedure, legal advice or professional judgement.